THE  LIBRARY 

OF 

THE  UNIVERSITY 

OF  CALIFORNIA 

LOS  ANGELES 


CTT- 


B.  0.  BAKER 

lAWYm 
i^AllAS,  TEXAS 


IN  MEMORIAM 

ELIZA  BOARDMAN  BURNZ 


Born,    October   31,  1823 
Deceased,  June  19,  1903 


PRINTED  IN   ROMAN  TYPE  AND  IN 
FONIC-SHORTHAND 


BURNZ    &    CO. 

94   East   lOth    Street 

NEW  YORK 


Copyright,  1906.  by 
BURNZ  &  CO. 


PREFATORY   APOLOGY. 

This   little   book   is   offered  to  the   public,   nearly   three   years 
after  the  decease  of  its  subject,  with  frank  acknowledgment  of 
«2    delay  and  humble  prayer  for  forgiveness. 

^  It  is  published  in  order  that  the  world  may  know,  by  the  Auto- 
>-  biografy  which  was  given  in  a  number  of  the  Phonographic  World 
^     during  her  life  and  from  the  several  memorial  notices  after  her 

OS 

3     death  and  the  other  matter  herein,  all  that  may  yet  be  known  of 
how  she  came,  who  she  was  and  what  she  was.    I  say  yet  he  ktioicn, 

^    because  she  put  seed  in  the  groimd  which  she  hoped  will  sprout 

tt      and  grow  into  a  mighty  tree — her  "  Pure  Phonies  "  seed  of  lan- 

^      guage  teaching. 

Read  of  this  life,  my  gentle  people — especially  you  who  have 
knowledge  of  Sir  Isaac  Pitman's  work  for  phonetic  representation 

3     of  language  in  writing  and  print — you  who  are  phonographers — 

3     Fonic  Shorthanders. 

Humbly  yours, 

Channing  Burnz. 


448571 


%\AJ.jhlJ4(i  ^  (mmA/ 


MRS.  ELIZA   BOARDMAN  BURNZ,    abt.    18  9  0. 


AUTHOR     OF     FOMC-SHORTHAND    AND 
INVENTOR    OF     PRONOUNCING    PRINT. 


ORDER   OF   CONTENTS. 


Autobiografy  of  Eliza  B.  Burnz 

Mrs.  Burnz'  Account  of  her  Case 

Letter  to  Fonic-Shorthand  Corresponding  Club 

My  Childhood's  Mother        .... 

Death  Notice,  School  Journal     . 

Death  Notice,  Sunday  Gazetteer 

In  Memoriam  Paper  and  Resolutions  of 
N.  Y.  State  Stenographers'  Association 

Poems  by  Mrs.  Eliza  B.  Burnz    . 

Anent  Shorthand  Writing  Hereof 

Number  Writing  in  Fonic- Shorthand 


Pages 
4—67 

6&— 73 

74—81 

82—91 

92,  93 

94,  95 

96—105 
106—111 
112—119 
120—123 


■\ „     / s-s ■; "^ -)  '^ /> / ^•■■*^ --^ 

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Mrs.  Eliza  Boardraan  Burnz'  Autobiografy. 

Prefaced  by  the  Editor  of  the  Phonographic  WorUl, 
Mr.  E.  N.  Miner.     Phonographic  World,  January,  1S95. 


PREFACE:  Without  any  exception,  most  prominent  of  all 
women  who  have,  in  the  whole  world,  identified  themselves  with 
either  shorthand  or  the  spelling  reform,  stands  Mrs.  Eliza  Vic- 
toria Boardman  Burnz,  of  New  York.  Among  all  of  the  many 
himdreds  of  shorthand  authors  and  orthographic  publisliers  pro- 
duced by  the  Old  World  during  centuries  past,  there  appears  not 
the  name  of  a  single  woman.  As  to  the  New  World,  to  America, 
has  been  given  the  mission,  before  all  other  countries,  of  develop- 
ing and  fitting  woman  for  the  many  avenues  of  business  and 
professional  life  into  which  she  has  now  made  her  way  by  the 
hundreds  of  thousands,  the  world  over,  so  to  America  was  given 
the  mission  of  developing  the  first  woman  wlio  should  devote 
her  whole  life  to  the  introduction  of  and  to  the  educational  ad- 
vancement of  her  sex  in  what  is  to-day  woman's  chief  occupa- 
tion in  the  business  and  professional  world. 

Her  whole  life!  Yes — and  such  a  life!  Unaided  and  alone, 
battling  against  sex  prejudice,  against  jjoverty,  against  the  bigotry 
of  the  world,  against  the  misdirected  educational  influences  of 
centuries  past,  the  figure  of  this  woman  stands  out  boldly  and 
alone,  foremost  for  fifty  years  past  in  all  that  has  tended  to  im- 
prove the  condition  not  only  of  her  own  sex,  but  that  has  tended 
to  advanced  thought  and  education  in  both  sexes,  to  the  ad- 
vancement of  phonographic  and  orthographic  reform  the  world 
over. 

Very  prominent  and  successful  among  American  shorthand 
authors,  the  writers  of  "  Burnz'  Fonic  Shorthand "  include  in 
their  number  hundreds  of  tlie  most  efficient  court  reporters 
and  most  capable  amanuenses  in  the  United  States;  most 
prominent  and  successful  among  American  spelling  reformers,  she 


^l^ (' ^..^..^.-y^^-^^-^^^^. 


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alone  it  has  been,  through  all  the  j^ears  past,  who  has  been  at 
all  times  and  upon  every  occasion  ready  and  anxious  to  raise 
her  voice  in  behalf  of  that  great  movement,  and  to  her  unflagging 
zeal  and  tireless  energy  is  due  the  greatest  part  of  the  promi- 
nence which  it  enjoys  in  this  country  to-day.  In  private  life,  in 
the  schoolroom,  on  the  public  platform  and  before  the  editor's 
desk,  at  all  times  and  at  every  opportunity,  has  she  pleaded  and 
urged  the  force  of  her  convictions,  putting  into  her  life's  work  not 
only  the  whole  energy  of  her  mind  and  body,  but  contributing 
to  it  as  well  every  dollar  which  has  resulted  to  her  from  her 
labors,  and  which  was  earned  only  to  be  again  east  upon  the 
stream  of  progress,  that,  like  bread  cast  upon  the  waters,  it 
should  return  after  many  days,  not  to  her,  but  to  the  people 
for  whom  she  labored. 

And  this  has  been  her  life.  For  the  people,  for  the  cause  of 
educational  advancement  in  which  she  was  engaged,  without 
other  recompense  than  the  knowledge  that  she  was  battling  for 
the  right,  for  a  phonetic  and  orthographic  reform  which  will 
surely  dawn,  some  day,  the  world  over,  and  in  the  accomplish- 
ment of  which,  in  this  country,  she  has  been  chiefly  instrumental. 

Surel}',  for  the  World's  "  Autumn  Leaves,"  no  other  could 
have  been  chosen,  among  women,  so  prominent,  so  deserving  of 
first  place,  or  about  whose  early  life,  early  struggles,  experiences, 
discouragements  and  successes,  so  much  of  interest  would  attach, 
or  whom  it  would  be  so  desirable  to  accurately  preserve  in  his- 
tory for  the  future  record  and  reference  of  coming  generations. 

AUTOBIOGRAPHY:  You  ask  me  for  reminiscences  of  my 
early  life;  of  my  ancestry  and  childhood  as  well  of  my  later 
years.      I   fear   your   readers    will    be   little    interested   in    these 


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personal  matters?;  unless,  indeed,  they  are  students  of  heredity, 
and  are  pursuing  the  new  educational  line  of  thought  marked 
out  by  Dr.  Standley  Hall,  namely,  the  "  Study  of  Child  Nature." 
But,  at  your  urgent  request,  "  Such  as  I  have  give  I  unto  thee." 

I  was  born  in  the  village  of  Rayne,  Essex,  England,  on  October 
31st,  1823.  My  father's  name  was  John  Boardman;  my  mother's, 
Anna  Thomason.  The  Boardman  family  traces  its  ancestry  to 
Puritan  times  in  England,  and  indiA'iduals  of  it  came  to  America 
Avitli  the  early  settlements  of  Massachusetts.  My  immediate  an- 
cestors, hoMever,  came  from  a  branch  which  is  still  numerous 
in  the  counties  of  Norfolk  and  Suffolk,  England.  Its  progenitors 
went  from  England  to  the  north  of  Ireland  soon  after  the  eon- 
quest  of  that  country  by  Cromwell,  and  established  themselves 
there  as  manufacturers  of  linen.  They  belonged  to  the  religious 
sect  known  as  Independents,  and  the  family  has  always  been 
characterized  by  high  religious,  Protestant  sentiment,  business 
enterprise  and  integrity.  On  the  breaking  out  of  the  religious 
disturbances  in  Ireland  in  the  middle  of  the  last  century,  the 
Boardman  mills  were  burned  and  the  numerous  family  returned 
to  the  eastern  part  of  England.  I  have  heard  my  father  often 
speak  of  two  of  his  uncles  and  their  families  whom,  when  he  was 
a  child,  he  saw  set  sail  for  America  about  the  year  1800.  My 
grandfather,  Richard  Boardman,  had  settled  at  Yarmouth,  then 
a  considerable  seaport  town  on  the  eastern  coast,  where  he  be- 
came government  baker  and  supplied  with  sea  biscuit  the  war- 
ships and  merchant  vessels  then  sailing  from  Yarmouth.  His 
sons  became  managers  of  a  line  of  coasting  vessels  which  plied 
between  London  and  the  ports  on  the  east  coast  of  England,  and 
my  father,  John  Boardman,  was  connected  with  them. 


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10 


My  mother  was  the  younger  daughter  of  Thomas  Thomason, 
a  prosperous  linen-draper  at  Thaxted,  in  Essex.  He  was  a  man 
of  marked  religious  character  and  held  in  great  consideration 
by  his  fellow  townsmen  on  account  of  his  excellent  business 
qualities,  strict  integrity  and  general  benevolence.  His  third 
wife,  my  grandmother,  bore  him  two  boys  and  two  girls,  dying 
of  consumption  soon  after  the  birth  of  my  mother.  The  latter 
possessed  her  father's  characteristics,  and  was  a  refined  and  cul- 
tured woman,  whom  all  her  children  venerate.  My  parents  re- 
moved to  London  in  1825,  and  I  was  the  oldest  of  eight  children. 
My  health  was  so  delicate,  until  after  the  age  of  ten,  that  my 
remembrances  are  considerably  mixed  up  with  leaches,  lancing, 
blisters  and  bitter  potions,  alternating  with  visits,  in  summer,  to 
my  paternal  grandmother's  at  Yarmouth,  not  far  from  the  sea- 
side. There,  in  the  mornings,  I  walked  with  my  aunt  Ann  on 
the  seashore,  picked  up  shells  and  watched  the  mackerel  boats 
come  in.  During  the  day  Aunt  Ann  taught  me  to  darn  stockings, 
a  thread  over  and  a  thread  under,  just  like  lace  work ;  and  if 
a  stitch  was  missed  the  row  of  stitches  had  to  come  out.  The  tax 
on  my  childish  patience  was  awful,  and  many  times  did  I  try 
to  shirk  the  task;  yet,  often  since,  when  piles  of  stockings  and 
socks  lay  before  me  for  repair,  have  I  blessed  the  memory  of 
Aunt  Ann,  who  bore  so  patiently  with  my  frowardness. 

One  summer  I  was  sent  to  Sandwich,  where  my  uncle.  Rev. 
Denny  Ray  Thomason,  officiated  as  minister.  There  I  remember 
hearing  him  preach  from  the  text,  "  Lay  not  up  for  yourselves 
treasures  upon  earth."  I  could  not  read  then,  and  at  the  village 
school  the  dame  taught  me  the  difference  in  the  shape  of  "  b  "  and 
"  d."    The  "  b  "  looked  forward  and  stepped  on  its  toe,  while  "  d  " 


11 


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looked  backward  and  stood  flat  on  its  foot.  More  tlian  once  I  was 
sent  to  stay  with  Mrs.Thake,who  had  been  housekeeper  for  grand- 
father Thoniason  during  my  mother's  childhood  and  growing  up. 
Mr.  Thake  was  a  well-to-do  farmer  of  Essex,  and  there  I  saw 
country  life.  Baking,  brewing  and  butter  and  cheese  making 
were  processes  for  close  investigation  and  inquiry  as  to  the 
"  how  "  and  the  "  why."  I  remember  one  day  going  with  some 
of  the  neighbors'  children  to  glean  in  a  field  where  M'heat  had 
been  cut  the  day  before.  All  of  the  cutting  was  done  by  hand, 
with  a  sickle,  and,  after  the  grain  had  been  tied  in  bundles  and 
set  up  in  shocks,  the  field  would  be  strewed  with  heads  of  wheat, 
the  straws  of  which  were  too  short  to  be  tied  up.  This  refuse 
the  poorer  class  of  villagers  had  permission  to  glean.  Tlie  women 
and  children  picked  up  the  wheat  and  put  it  in  their  large  aprons, 
the  bottom  being  turned  up  and  the  corners  tied  at  the  back 
of  the  waist,  so  that  a  sort  of  bag  was  made  of  the  apron.  I  set 
to  gathering  the  wheat-heads  with  other  children,  but  soon 
encountered  scowling  looks  and  then  mutterings:  "  Lunnon's  come 
to  glean."  Pretty  soon  Mrs.  Thake  sent  for  me,  and  explained 
that  these  poor  people  did  not  like  to  spare  from  their  gatherings 
even  the  little  I  should  pick  up.  A  boy  named  Henry  Maddox 
lived  near,  and  from  him  I  learned  much  bird-lore.  He  often 
threw  stones  at  the  crows  and  jays,  for  it  seems  innate  with 
boys  to  see  marks  for  missiles  in  all  living  objects.  But  some 
birds  he  did  not  molest.  I  asked  him  one  day  why  he  did  not 
throw  at  a  saucy  robin  that  came  very  near.  He  replied: 
"  The  Martin  and  Swaller  are  God's  shirt  and  collar, 
The  Robin  and  Titter  wren  are  God's  cock  and  hen. 


13 


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14 


I  never  throw  at  them." 

Until  the  age  of  ten  I  went  to  school  but  little,  yet  I  must 
have  learned  to  read  early;  for  long  before  then  the  weary 
hours  of  invalidism  were  beguiled  by  reading  the  works  of  Miss 
Edgeworth  and  Hannah  More;  but  mostly  the  companions  of 
my  couch  were  the  Bible,  Pilgrim's  Progress,  Bunyan's  Holy  War, 
Fox's  Book  of  Martyrs,  Josephus  and  other  religious  books. 
Although,  during  the  greater  portion  of  my  childhood,  I  was  weak 
and  suffering,  I  did  not  think  of  dying  young.  I  early  determined 
that  when  grown  I  would  be  a  teacher  or  missionary.  Once,  when 
about  eight  years  old,  my  mother  took  me  to  a  noted  physician. 
Dr.  Goddard.  We  entered  the  consulting  room,  and  I,  being 
very  timid,  hung  back  and  stood  near  the  door.  The  doctor,  sit- 
ting behind  a  table  covered  with  instruments  and  glass-stoppered 
bottles,  raised  his  gold  spectacles  and,  without  calling  me  to  him, 
glared  at  me,  ferociously,  as  I  thought.  Then,  turning  to  my 
mother,  he  said :  "  What  did  you  bring  that  miserable  child  here 
for?  She  is  only  fit  to  be  cut  up  for  a  bunch  of  matches."  I 
did  not  speak,  but  I  vowed  mentally  that  some  day  I  would  prove 
that  I  was  worth  far  more  than  to  be  cut  up  for  a  bunch  of 
matches.  Doubtless  my  blood  was  in  a  very  poor  condition,  but 
what  there  was  boiled  over.  I  refused  to  let  my  mother  lead 
me  near  him.  He  wrote  a  prescription  which  when  filled  proved 
to  be  for  a  one-half  pint  bottle  of  medicine  like  watered  milk 
with  a  red  sediment.  But  I  absolutely  refused  to  take  a  single 
dose;  poured  it  all  out  the  first  opportunity,  and  got  well  pun- 
ished for  my  spitefulness.  I  remember  my  father  teaching  me 
to  write;  perched  up  on  a  very  high  stool  at  his  very  high 
desk,  he  set  me  copies  of  large  pothooks  and  hangers,  m's, 
n's  and  u's.     After  I  was  well  enough  to  go  to  school  an  apt- 


15 


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iiess  for  learninfT  and  ippoatinij  pootry,  and  a  great  love  of 
history  developed.  I  detested  sewing,  which  we  learned  at  school 
during  the  afternoons.  Every  seam  had  to  be  whipped  and  felled 
by  hand.  There  were  no  sewing  machines  in  those  days.  I  used 
to  wish  I  could  dress  like  a  Hottentot,  in  one  garment,  with 
holes  to  put  my  head  and  arms  through.  I  never  dressed  my 
dolls;  just  pinned  a  shawl  around  each.  When  able  to  play  I 
preferred  rolling  hoops  or  playing  hopscotch  or  cat.  I  was  a  willful 
child,  and  disposed  to  be  domineering.  My  inquisitiveness  made 
me  very  troublesome;  I  was  boimd  to  get  to  the  bottom  of  every- 
thing that  came  under  my  observation,  and  it  was  of  no  use  to 
put  Buchan's  Domestic  ]Medicine  and  Aristotle's  Masterpiece  on 
a  high  shelf,  or  even  to  lock  them  up;  I  was  bound  to  know  what 
I  was  and  whence  I  came.  My  parents  were  intensely  religious, 
of  the  Calvinistic  school,  and  after  mastering  Bible  biographies 
and  the  Westminster  catechism,  my  11th  and  12th  years  found 
me  wrestling  with  the  problems  of  original  sin,  total  depravity, 
predestination,  free  will  and  election.  Many  a  time,  after  being 
talked  to  and  prayed  with  by  my  excellent  mother,  in  conse- 
quence of  an  unusual  fit  of  perverseness,  have  I  stayed  on  my 
knees,  by  my  bedside,  far  into  the  night,  weeping  and  praj'ing 
to  God  that  he  would  reveal  to  me  whether  I  was  one  of  his  elect. 
For  months  a  verse  of  one  of  the  then  popular  hymns  ran  con- 
stantly through  my  brain  and  made  life  a  continual  anguish. 
It  was: 

"'Tis  a  point  I  long  to  know; 
Oft  it  causes  anxious  thought: 
Do  I  love  the  Lord,  or  no? 
Am  I  his,  or  am  I  not  ?  " 


17 


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18 


At  length  my  mother  and  religious  friends  assured  me  that 
my  anxiety  on  the  subject  was  a  hopeful  sign;  and,  in  my  thir- 
teenth year,  having  gained  much  in  health  and  strength,  I  en- 
gaged in  Christian  work,  collecting  money  for  the  ^lissionary 
and  Tract  societies,  visiting  the  houses  of  neighbors  and  tlie  poor 
with  tracts,  and  making  myself  a  nuisance  generally.  Constant 
attendance  at  Sunday  school,  with  home  instruction,  gave  me  a 
thorough  knowledge  of  the  Bible,  so  that  I  could  repeat  much  of 
it,  and  I  was  a  sort  of  living  concordance  for  my  friends.  Sixty 
years  ago  children  memorized  more  of  the  Bible  and  standard 
poetry,  both  at  home  and  school,  than  they  do  now.  My  parents 
encouraged  me  to  learn  chapters  and  poems,  and  they  or  visitors 
often  rewarded  me  with  a  penny  or  sixpence  to  put  in  the  mis- 
sionary box  when  I  recited  something  new.  Even  at  day  schools 
the  first  requirement  every  morning  was  for  each  pupil  to  repeat 
a  verse  from  the  Bible.  These  religious  and  ethical  texts  sank 
deep  into  my  memory.  They  were,  in  truth,  as  "  nails  fastened 
in  a  sure  place,"  and  they  frequently  even  now  come  to  my  mind 
as  consolations  or  prompters  to  right  action. 

At  about  thirteen  I  entered  the  famous  Borough  Road  school. 
It  was  established  on  the  Lancasterian  plan,  a  prominent  feature 
of  which  was  to  ascertain  what  were  the  special  characteristics 
of  each  child,  and  give  to  it  such  individual  training  as  would 
fit  it  for  the  business  of  life  for  which  it  was  naturally  adapted. 
It  was  soon  decided  that  my  special  gift  lay  in  imparting  what 
I  knew,  so  I  was  made  "  monitor "  of  various  classes,  while  my- 
self pursuing  higher  instruction. 

After  a  year's  attendance  there,  my  mother's  brother,  Rev. 
Denny  Ray  Thomason,  who  had  emigrated  to  America  a  few 
years  before,  and  then  had  charge  of  a  young  ladies'  academy 
in  Pulaski,  Tennessee,  pleased  with  a  letter  I  had  written  him, 
invited  me  to  come  to  America  and  finish  my  education  in  his 
school.  My  health  being  still  far  from  good,  and  physicians 
advising  the  change,  my  parents  consented,  and  on  August 
1st,  1837,  I  was  placed  in  custody  of  a  friend  and  started  on  my 


19 


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20 


Western  journey.  Steamers  had  not  then  come  into  general  use, 
and  it  took  six  weeks  and  three  days  for  the  sailing  vessel  in 
which  I  was  embarked  to  cross  from  London  to  Philadelphia. 
I  think  the  ship  was  four  days  tacking  up  Delaware  Bay  after 
sighting  Cape  Henlopen.  I  was  sea-sick  during  most  of  the 
voyage,  and  so  completely  emptied  myself  of  all  superfluities  that 
none  of  my  old  complaints  made  a  landing  with  me  on  the  shores 
of  the  New  World,  except  an  hereditary  rebellious  stomach.  This 
weakness  has  through  life  manifested  its  presence  in  frequent 
and  severe  headaches,  until  about  five  years  ago.  After  landing 
I  stayed  two  weeks  in  Philadelphia;  went  to  the  museum,  won- 
dered at  the  skeleton  of  the  saurian  monster  there,  and  had  my 
silhouette  taken;  there  were  no  photographs  or  even  daguerreo- 
types made  in  those  days.  Fairmount  Park  enchanted  me,  though 
I  most  admired  the  big  waterwheels  and  tried  to  comprehend 
their  workings.  But  the  city  market  was  my  delight — the  fruit 
in  such  abundance — peaches  as  large  as  small  apples,  so  ruby  and 
golden,  and  I  could  buy  two  for  a  fip  and  five  for  a  levy.  A  fip 
was  a  silver  coin  worth  6%  cents  and  a  levy  one  about  the  size 
of  an  English  sixpence  worth  12 1/^  cents.  American  currency  had 
not  become  so  thoroughly  decimalized  then  as  it  is  now.  The 
rocking  chair  at  our  boarding-house  was  a  luxurious  curiosity. 
That  American  invention  had  not  found  its  way  across  the  water; 
the  nearest  approach  to  it  in  ordinary  English  homes  was  the 
low,  plain  mother's  rocking  chair,  which  never  left  the  precincts 
of  the  nursery. 

About  October  1,  1837,  with  Dr.  Jeptha  Fowlkes  and  family, 
to  whose  care  I  was  committed,  I  left  Philadelphia  on  the  Pennsyl- 
vania Railroad  for  Pittsburg.  It  was  not  then  completed,  for  we 
had  to  go  about  seven  miles  by  stage  near  the  middle  of  Penn- 
sylvania. At  Pittsburg  we  took  boat.  The  Ohio  was  very  low 
and  soon  the  boat  stuck  fast.  We  went  in  a  skiff  four  miles 
down   the   river    and    boarded   another    boat.      That    stuck    also. 


21 


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We  got  on  a  third  which  arrived  at  Cincinnati,  and  I  remember 
that  the  boat  tied  up  for  the  night  and  our  party  went  to  church, 
as  it  was  Sunday.  Arriving  at  Sniithkmd,  at  the  mouth  of  the 
Cumberland  River,  the  Fowlkes  family  left  me  all  alone  in  wide 
America,  they  being  bound  for  Memphis  and  I  for  Nashville. 
I  had  to  wait  three  days  for  the  Nashville  boat.  Sunday  night, 
a  week  after  we  had  left  Cincinnati,  I  started  up  the  Cumberland, 
but  about  half  way  the  "  Bolivar  "  grounded  and  we  had  to  wait 
for  a  smaller  boat.  An  Episcopal  Convention  was  being  held 
in  Nashville  when  we  reached  that  place,  and  the  one  hotel  was 
crowded;  a  pallet  in  the  parlor  was  the  only  accommodation  to 
be  had.  Mosquitoes  filled  the  room,  but  being  very  tired  I  slept. 
In  the  morning  my  hands  and  face  were  a  sight  to  behold — 
swelled  and  looking  as  though  I  had  the  erysipelas.  I  had  no 
private  room  and  could  not  go  to  the  dining  table,  so  had  to  sit 
in  a  corner  and  hide  my  face  the  best  I  could.  The  stage  w^ent 
from  Nashville  to  Pulaski  but  twice  a  week,  and  I  had  to  wait 
three  days;  but  some  kind  ladies  managed  to  get  me  under  a 
mosquito  net  the  remaining  nights.  At  length,  after  two  days 
of  stage  travel,  I  reached  Pulaski  and  my  tedious  journey  was 
ended. 

I  remained  in  Pulaski  a  year  or  two,  attending  school,  and 
then  took  a  position  as  assistant  teacher  at  the  town  of  Salem, 
in  Northern  Mississippi.  The  Choctaw  Indians  had  emigrated 
but  two  years  before  from  that  neighborhood  to  the  Indian  Ter- 
ritory. The  succeeding  five  years  were  passed  in  teaching  in 
schools  or  in  private  families  of  the  planters  in  Mississippi  and 
West  Tennessee.  In  December,  1844,  at  the  age  of  twenty-one, 
I  married  Allan  Jones,  of  Hardeman  Co.,  Tennessee.  During 
this  year  my  parents  came  to  America.  Our  family  consisted  of 
three  sons  and  two  daughters.  I  was  the  oldest  and  my  sister, 
then  four  years  old,  the  youngest. 

Allan  Jones'  father  was  a  cotton  planter;  not  rich,  but  well- 
to-do    in    lands    and    slaves.      On    our    maniage    he    promised 


23 


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24 


my  husband  a  piece  of  land  with  a  house  on  it;  but  it 
was  not  habitable,  and  as  Allan  was  barely  of  age  and  had  noth- 
ing of  his  own,  he  engaged  to  oversee  his  father's  plantation ;  we 
living  with  the  old  folks  and  three  young  daughters,  and  I  con- 
tinuing to  teach  the  neighborhood  school.  On  the  5th  of  Novem- 
ber, 1845,  my  Fannie  was  born;  on  the  7th  of  December  my 
husband  died.  No  provision  had  been  made  for  me  and  the  babe; 
for  Allan  owned  nothing;  so  I  took  possession  of  a  log  ( abin 
offered  me  by  a  neighbor,  and  with  my  babe,  father,  mother  and 
little  sister  recommenced  the  work  of  teaching.  The  next  year  my 
noble  and  devoted  mother  died.  My  brothers  had  found  business 
in  Memphis.  In  1847  I  became  principal  of  the  female  academy 
at  Bolivar,  Tenn.,  and  married  Rev.  John  B.  Burns  in  January 
of  the  same  year. 

In  1845  a  notice  of  the  invention  of  Phonography,  given  in  the 
Phrenological  Journal,  had  attracted  my  attention.  In  a  short 
paragraph  the  principal  features  of  the  new  system  were  given: 
the  ignoring  of  the  common  spelling,  the  separating  of  each  word 
into  its  elementary  sounds  and  the  assigning  of  a  particular 
geometrical  sign,  simple  in  form  and  made  with  a  single  motion 
of  the  hand,  to  represent  each  elementary  sound  of  the  spoken 
word. 

As  I  read,  the  whole  plan  in  its  wonderful  simplicity  and  beauty 
unfolded  before  my  mental  vision.  I  saw  that  words  written  in 
Phonogiaphy  would  form,  as  it  were,  an  exact  daguerreotype  of 
the  spoken  language.  I  saw  also,  as  by  a  lightning  flash,  the 
marvelous  results  which  would  flow  from  such  a  representation 
of  thought,  when  it  should  become  the  general  medium  of  com- 
munication. I  perceived  the  numerous  and  still  greater  bless- 
ings which  would  come  to  all  future  generations,  when  the  truth, 
as  it  is  in  phonetic  science,  should  be  made  the  basis  of  language 
teaching.  I  recognized  that  phonography  exemplified  a  prin- 
ciple worth  the  teacher's  living  and  working  for;  the  only  royal 
road    to    language    learning.      I    wrote    for    further    information 


25 


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20 


to  Stephen  Pearl  Andrews,  at  Boston,  and  he  sent  me  some  of 
Isaac  Pitman's  Leaflets.  From  these  I  learned  the  phonographic 
alphabet  and  basic  principles  of  the  art.  Afterward  I  received 
the  Class  Book  and  Reader,  and  subscribed  for  the  "  Anglo-Sac- 
son."  The  inspiration  given  by  those  works  has  ever  abided 
with  me.  (After  coming  to  New  York  I  had  the  pleasure  of 
personal  acquaintance  with  Mr.  Andrews.)  While  still  in  Ten- 
nessee, I  began  to  teach  the  spelling  of  words  by  sound  to  my 
pupils.  They  enjoyed  the  logical  analysis  so  much  that  they 
spelled  out  of  school  as  well  as  in  school,  and  made  so  much  fun 
for  their  parents  and  friends  that  soon  I  was  visited  by  the 
trustees.  No  amount  of  explanation  could  convince  them  that 
a  child  could  be  taught  to  read  and  spell,  except  as  they  them- 
selves had  learned,  namely,  by  the  a  b  c  plan  of  calling  the  names 
of  the  letters;  and,  after  several  pupils  had  been  withdrawn  from 
the  school,  I  had  to  give  up  all  instruction  in  phonetics.  A  desire 
to  exchange  that  dark  South  land  for  a  country  where  greater 
intelligence  reigned,  coupled  with  Mr.  Burns'  desire  to  leave  the 
ministry  and  study  medicine,  brought  us  to  Cincinnati  in  Janu- 
ary, 1848.  There  we  engaged  for  some  months  in  various  branches 
of  phonetic  publishing  work  with  the  Longleys.  Mr.  Burns  had 
learned  phonography  during  the  first  year  of  our  marriage, 
and  in  the  early  fall  of  1849  we  started  on  a  tour  through  Ohio, 
from  Cincinnati  to  Lake  Erie,  with  the  intention  of  lecturing 
on  and  teaching  phonography  and  spelling  reform.  Mr.  Charles 
Royce,  who,  several  years  afterward,  under  the  auspices  of  the 
Phonetic  Association,  prosecuted  more  successfuly  the  work 
of  which  we  were  pioneers,  was  a  pupil  in  a  phonographic  class 
taught  by  my  husband  in  Northern  Ohio — I  think  at  Nor- 
walk.  But  our  classes  did  not  pay  expenses,  and  Mr.  Burns 
learned  daguerreotyping.  From  that  time  to  his  death  the 
producing  of  pictures  by  chemical  means  was  the  main  sub- 
ject   of    his    thoughts,    whether    engaged    in    teaching,    studying 


27 


^    ,  -  u. ! ^"'^x  h _^T       >™  /^ 

jr^. L  \    X  .  \ c^ rr-^^j J        ^    >— J-JC.  J 

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.  y^a  ^  v;^-  /  ^  "" "h c-^  ^ 

■■-■  ^i^  "^  -^  V  ^  A^-^'')  L  lb   - 


28 


medicine,  or  practising  as  a  physician,  or  as  a  phonofirapliic  re- 
porter. After  the  war  lie  was  one  of  the  first  to  reproduce  pic- 
tures by  the  actinic,  or  what  is  known  as  "  the  gelatine  process."' 
After  coming  to  New  York  lie  was  engaged  in  illustrating  Frank 
Leslie's  publications.  But  experiments  cost  money,  and  in  IS.iO 
we  had  none.  So  in  the  spring  we  returned  to  Cincinnati  and, 
soon  after,  my  daughter,  Fonetta,  was  born.  I  obtained  a  position 
in  the  public  schools,  and  Mr.  Burns  studied  at  the  Eclectic  Medi- 
cal College,  doing  shorthand  work  for  the  professors.  Having  no 
color  prejudice,  I  obtained  a  transfer  from  Principal  Hand's 
School  to  the  position  of  principal  of  the  colored  school,  which 
afi'orded  me  a  larger  salary — $25  a  month.  But  I  remember  that 
in  those  days  I  could  buy  a  fore-quarter  of  mutton  for  25  cents. 
It  was  at  this  period  that  Mrs.  Amelia  Bloomer  promulgated 
her  idea  of  Dress  Reform.  With  other  w^omen  who  desired  release 
from  the  thraldom  of  tight  waists  and  long  skirts.  I  assumed 
the  Bloomer  costume,  which  resembled  that  now  worn  by  lady 
bicyclers  or  gymnasts,  though  the  trousers  came  down  to  the 
shoe  tops.  For  a  short  time  I  wore  it  on  the  street.  Once  ^Ir. 
Burns  and  myself  were  met  by  Dr.  Joseph  R.  Buchanan,  dean  of 
the  Eclectic  College.  Next  day  he  sent  me  a  bound  copy  of  his 
"  Journal  of  INIan,"  inscribed  with  his  name,  and  with  it  his 
respects  for  my  good  stnse  and  courage  in  wearing  a  hygienic 
dress.  During  the  summer  the  dress  reform  ladies  arranged  a 
picnic,  which  was  held  beyond  Walnut  Hills,  then  not  so  thickly 
populated  as  it  is  now.  But  the  annoyance  to  which  the  dress 
subjected  us  on  the  street,  and  the  fact  that  it  hindered  those 
who  wore  it  from  pursuing  successfully  any  other  professional 
or  reformatory  work,  compelled  its  discontinuance  in  public; 
though  as  a  house  and  garden  dress  I,  with  many  other  women 
the    country    over,    More    it    for    years,    to    our    great    benefit 


29 


7 


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V.' I"' 

.'  ^^  "-^^.  ^  r  "^  ^  ?ftj,^,  <^-:i, :. 

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and  oiijoyinont.  It  is  the  dress  of  lightness  and  freedom,  and 
when  frequently  seen  it  no  longer  strikes  the  eye  as  being  ugly. 
In  1851-2  the  discussions  about  the  emendations  and  additions 
to  Phonography  proposed  by  Isaac  Pitman  and  other  phonog- 
raphers  were  going  on.  I  was  one  of  the  Council,  but  was  more 
interested  in  the  production  of  Phonotypic  books  and  a  settle- 
ment of  the  Phonotypic  Alphabet.  Mr.  Elias  Longley  had  begun 
the  issue  of  Primers  and  Readers  for  children.  I  wrote  a  serial 
story  entitled  "  Childhood  Hours,"  for  the  Phonetic  Advocate. 
The  story  was  afterwards  published  in  book  form,  and  a  copy 
is  in  my  library.  About  1853  my  husband  received  his  M.D. 
diploma,  and  we  went  to  Camden,  Miss.,  where  he  began  the  prac- 
tice of  medicine,  and  I  opened  a  school.  In  September  my  son 
Ellis  Mas  bom  and.  May  loth,  1855,  my  son  Channing  appeared. 
Soon  after  Dr.  Burns  removed  to  the  vicinity  of  Livingston, 
Sumter  County,  Ala.,  where  we  began  the  making  of  a  home  in 
the  woods.  During  our  four  years'  residence  there  I  taught  school 
at  two  places,  and  once  attended  a  teachers'  convention,  where 
I  gave  an  address  on  Phonetics.  Dr.  Burns's  father  dying,  he  was 
called  to  Tennessee  to  settle  up  the  estate,  and  for  a  year  I  was 
alone  with  the  four  children  and  an  old  colored  man,  superintend- 
ing the  farming  and  teaching  school.  In  the  fall  of  18G0  Dr. 
Burns  took  us  to  Tennessee,  where  we  lived  during  the  first  years 
of  the  war;  Dr.  Burns  being  absent  in  the  army.  After  the  battle 
of  Pittsburg  Landing  he  was  appointed  surgeon  of  the  Third 
Kentucky  Union  Volunteers,  and  went  with  the  army  to  Atlanta. 
My  home  in  Tennessee  was  on  a  road  much  traveled  by  the 
soldiers,  and  I  had  the  questionable  pleasure  of  twice  sitting 
up  half  the  night  baking  bread;  in  1861  for  a  Confederate 
regiment,  and  in  1862  for  LTnion  soldiers,  after  West  Tennessee 
had  fallen  into  the  hands  of  the  United  States  troops.  In  both 
cases,  however,  they  paid  me  generously  for  my  trouble.  But 
what  a  time  I  had  to  keep  the  men  from  taking  the  bread 
■from  the  skillets  and  ovens  before  it  was  baked.  A  gang 
would   bring   wood   and   pile   it   by   the   chimney,   and   claim   the 


31 


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32 


next  batch,  and  want  to  know  if  I  liad  not  more  cookinff  vesi«els 
that  I  coukl  heat  to  bake  bread  in.  Poor  fellows;  they  were 
so  tired  of  hard-tack." 

In  the  fall  of  18G3  we  went  to  Louisville,  where  Dr.  Burns, 
having  been  mustered  out  when  the  Third  Kentucky  was  dis- 
banded, was  made  assistant  surgeon  of  a  hospital.  Dr.  IMary 
Walker,  who  always  dresses  in  man's  garb,  was  an  assistant 
surgeon  there  also.  When  the  hospitals  were  closed  we  removed 
to  the  neighborhood  of  Cincinnati.  Dr.  Burns  gave  up  the  prac- 
tice of  medicine,  and  worked  all  the  time  at  his  picture  producing. 

About  this  time  I  went  to  Xashville,  Tennessee.  The  city  had 
been  for  some  time  under  Union  military  control,  and  Northern 
teachers  were  flocking  to  it  and  other  Southern  cities  to  instruct 
the  freedmen.  A  noted  teacher  of  penmanship  and  phonography, 
Mr.  J.  W.  Dolbear,  became  deeply  interested  in  this  work.  He 
had  lived  many  years  in  Nashville  and,  by  his  skill  as  a  teacher, 
with  his  loving  nature  and  generositj^  had  won  the  warm  friend- 
ship of  all  who  knew  him.  Though  a  Northern  man,  and  at  heart 
an  abolitionist,  he  liad  been  so  cautious  in  word  and  act  as  not 
to  give  offense  to  Southern  people.  He  was  an  ardent  spelling 
reformer;  and  now,  seeing  a  great  opportunity  to  demonstrate 
the  superiority  of  the  Phonetic  method  in  teaching  illiterates,  he 
wrote  to  Mr.  Benn  Pitman  for  a  phonetic  teacher.  Mr.  Pitman 
communicated  with  me  and  I  started  for  Nashville  with  a  good 
supply  of  phonetic  charts  and  readers.  There  were  many  intelli- 
gent colored  people  in  Nashville  who  could  read  well,  and  some 
of  those  I  instructed  in  Phonogi'aphy.  I  also  gathered  small  classes 
of  illiterates  who  could  afford  to  pay  a  little,  for  Mr.  Dolbear 
was  bearing  nearly  all  the  expense.  Soon,  however,  the  soldiers 
vacated  the  barracks,  and  the  government  gave  the  use  of  them 
to  the  Home  Missionary  Society,  which  proceeded  to  open  a  free 
school.  It  was  named  for  General  Fisk,  and  has  since  developed 
into  the  Fisk  Universitv. 


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34 


How  the  npfjroos  did  flock  in!  Both  soxos,  all  ages,  all  gi-ades 
of  color  from  cream  to  ebony — they  seemed  possessed  by  a  mania 
to  learn  to  read.  Prof.  John  Ogden  was  principal,  and  Mr.  Cra- 
vath  general  supervisor.  I  obtained  a  position  in  a  primary  de- 
partment (though  all  were  really  primary),  and  by  much  entreaty 
succeeded  in  keeping  a  part  of  my  piipils  long  enough  to  demon- 
strate what  phonetic  teaching  would  do.  For  the  influx  of  utter 
ignorance  was  so  continuous  that  about  every  two  or  three  weeks 
children  who  had  progressed  a  little  were  advaneec".  to  a  higlier 
department.  It  was  necessary  that  children  should  remain  in 
my  classes  for  at  least  three  months  in  order  to  read  intelligibly. 
At  the  end  of  that  time  they  could  go  on  the  platform  and  read 
imderstandingly  from  the  Fonetic  Second  Reader  or  Gospel  of 
John.  To  do  this  in  the  ordinary  way  of  teaching  was  the  work 
of  more  than  a  year. 

It  Avas  during  this  work  at  Nashville  that  I  experienced  one 
of  the  greatest  sorrows  of  my  life,  in  the  death  of  my  son,  Ellis, 
then  nearly  fourteen.  Cholera  prevailed  in  the  city  in  1SG7,  and 
just  before  its  appearance  Ellis  fell  a  victim  to  dysentery.  The 
next  year  I  returned  to  Cincinnati,  and  opened  a  school  for  teach- 
ing phonography  in  the  Carlisle  Building,  where  Mr.  Benn  Pit- 
man's oflice  was,  and  ho  sent  me  such  persons  as  applied  to  him 
for  instruction. 

(I  here  regret  that  I  cannot  give  a  full  statement  of  my  own 
work,  and  the  motives  that  have  actuated  me  in  doing  it,  with- 
out mentioning  the  names  of  others  whose  lines  of  activity  have 
been  more  or  less  interwoven  with  mine.  In  referring  to  Mr. 
IMunson  only  kind  feelings  pervade  the  narrative,  and  no  one 
recognizes  more  than  my  self  the  value  of  his  phonographic  work. 
But  I  must  recount  details  as  they  occurred.) 

In  the  fall  of  1868  Mr.  Munson  sent  me  a  copy  of  his  "Com- 
plete Phonographer "  for  examination.  Most  carefully  did  I 
con  the  book,  noting  the  differences  between  it  and  the  Pit- 
man   system.      I    soon    saw    the    great    simplification    that    had 


35 


3(5 


been  effected,  and  tried  tlie  new  method  with  the  next  pupil. 
Before  proceeding  far  in  the  textbook  I  was  distressed  by  the 
jiwkwardness  of  liaving  the  phonographic  lessons  so  far  from 
the  type  pages  whicli  explained  tlie  principles,  and  I  wrote 
Mr.  Munson  that  though  the  changes  made  had  greatly  simplified 
the  art  and  made  it  more  easy  to  learn,  yet  the  miserable  ar- 
rangement of  the  textbook  would  preclude  my  adopting  his 
method,  unless  a  better  textbook,  and  one  with  easier  reading 
lessons  for  beginners,  was  brought  out.  He  replied  that  he  con- 
templated getting  out  a  book  of  easy  reading  lessons,  so  soon 
as  he  could  find  a  satisfactory  way  of  producing  phonographic 
engraving.  In  January,  1SG9,  Dr.  Burns  went  to  New  York,  and 
I  followed  in  June.  On  seeing  Mr.  ]\Iunson  I  arranged  to  assist 
in  transcribing  his  court  notes,  which  were  written  very  plainly. 
Mr.  A.  Crum — I  think  that  was  the  name — had  a  class  in  IMunson 
shorthand  at  the  Mercantile  Library,  of  which  A.  M.  Palmer  was 
then  manager.  The  classes  were  transferred  to  me,  and  for  three 
years  they  were  carried  on  under  my  instruction.  I  found  the 
need  of  simple  reading  lessons  very  great,  and  so,  with  much 
labor,  wrote  extra  lessons  in  Munson's  shorthand  for  my  pupils. 
Dr.  Burns  soon  invented  a  metiiod  by  which  shorthand  engraving 
could  be  satisfactorily  done  and  at  a  small  expense.  Mr.  INIunson 
was  offered  the  invention  at  a  low  cost,  but  refused  to  purchase 
it.  We  began  the  publication  of  the  American  Journal  of  Phoiior;- 
raphij,  and  also  a  series  of  lessons  in  Munson's  shorthand,  each 
lesson  being  approved  by  Mr.  Munson  before  it  was  issued.  At 
last  a  small  book  was  made,  entitled  "  Reading  Lessons  in  Steno- 
Phonography,  in  Accordance  with  Munson's  Complete  Phonog- 
rapher."  This  reader  was  joyfully  hailed  by  friends  of  the  new 
system,  among  them  Mr.  Ormsby  (the  court  reporter),  whose 
son,  William,  was  one  of  my  pupils. 


37 


448571 


1  -  \  Ca 

YT_  v^  p". K.  H,:,  -.--,:^  /,.i-^ 

S"  (.V?  I  ^  T^'.^  .^  ^,  )(  ^  t^U^ 


N     ^  ^ «-  C    .-  -^. .' >,«-!__ 

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38 


Some  time  previous  I\Ir.  Haney,  a  publisher,  had,  with  Mr.  Mun- 
son's  consent,  and,  perhaps  autliorship,  set  forth  the  leading  prin- 
ciples of  the  Munson  system  in  a  paper-covercu  pamphlet,  and, 
as  my  classes  were  large,  and  the  "  Complete  Phonographer " 
unsuited  to  the  pupils,  from  its  size,  cost  and  the  poor  arrange- 
ment of  the  shorthand  pages,  1  purchased  a  number  of  these  pam- 
phlets from  Mr.  Haney,  and  made  shorthand  plates  to  accord  with 
its  instructions  and  illustrative  printed  words.  The  pamphlets 
were  torn  apart,  and  the  shorthand  pages  put  opposite  the  printed 
keyes,  then  the  whole  was  rebound,  together  with  the  reading 
lessons  formerly  mentioned.  The  little  book  was  entitled  "  The 
Self-Instructor  in  Steno-Phonography,"  and  stated  that  it  was  an 
introduction  to  "  Munson's  Complete  Phonographer."  This  com- 
pilation of  two  small  works.,  which  had  received  Mr.  Munson's 
approval,  was  done  with  no  other  view  than  to  facilitate  the 
teaching  of  my  large  classes,  and  to  spread  abroad  a  knowledge 
of  what  I  believed  to  be  the  best  system  of  shorthand.  But  Mr. 
Munson  felt  injured  by  the  publication  of  the  little  work,  and 
brought  suit  against  me.  I  employed  legal  advice.  The  case  was 
heard.  The  jiidge  confessed  himself  nonplussed — never  had  just 
such  a  case  before  him  before;  thought  it  should  be  fully  argued 
before  a  jury,  and  granted  the  plaintiff  a  temporary  injunction 
against  the  sale  of  the  book.  Of  course  it  has  not  been  sold  since 
the  injunction,  but  copies  are  sent  free  for  phonographic  libraries 
to  persons  who  send  me  five  cents  for  postage. 

Having  no  more  sums  of  fifty  dollars  to  pay  lawyers,  I  took 
no  further  notice  of  the  suit,  and  it  is  still  hanging  by  its  ears, 
as  did  that  between  Benn  Pitman  and  A.  J.  Graham  until  the 
latter's  death.  Soon  I  began  to  publish  lessons  serially  in  the 
American  Journal  of  Phonography,  as  a  basis  for  an  independent 
textbook.  For  the  purpose  of  avoiding  the  use  of  expedients 
which  had  been  original  with  the  author  of  the  "  Complete 
Phonographer,"  I  read  up  past  phonographic  literature  and 
interviewed  our  oldest  reporters,  notably  Messrs,  Parkhurst, 
Underbill,  and  Wilbour.  I  was  assured  that  with  the  excep- 
tion of  the  large  Initial-hook  on  straight  stems  to  denote 
the   sound   of   "  y,"    there    was    no   device    or   piece   of    material 

39 


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that  had  not  been  used  by  stenographers  previous  to  tlie  ad- 
vent of  the  Munson  arrangement.  Thus  the  way  was  clear, 
and  circumstances  compelled  me  to  do  what  I  really  desired, 
namely,  to  bring  out  a  textbook  to  suit  my  needs  in  teach- 
ing. Three  years  of  giving  instruction  in  the  Munson  system 
had  forced  on  my  attention  a  degree  of  illegibility  in  it,  which 
was  caused  by  the  smooth,  monotonous  outlines,  formed  mainly 
of  stems,  and  unbroken  by  the  smaller  adjunctive  signs  em- 
ployed in  Pitman  shorthand,  either  independently  or  as  con- 
nectives. I  was  dissatisfied  also  with  the  needless  labor  of  memo- 
rizing word-signs  written  out  of  position,  and  I  already  had 
copious  notes  and  lessons  prepared  to  remedy  these  defects.  From 
thenceforth,  therefore,  all  my  new  pupils  were  instructed  by  a 
course  of  serially  published  lessons,  which,  when  completed,  were 
presented  in  one  volume  under  the  name  of  "  Burns'  Phonic 
Shorthand." 

The  venture  of  constructing  a  distinctive  method  of  phonog- 
raphy was  a  bold  one,  and  as  I  look  back  I  wonder  at  my  temer- 
ity. But  I  just  felt  that  phonographic  writing  could  be  made 
more  certain  and  legible,  and  the  labor  of  learning  it  greatly 
lessened,  therefore  duty  to  my  pupils  required  an  effort  in  those 
directions.  Greater  legibility  was  secured  by  the  invention  of 
the  In-hook  and  Second  Shun-hook,  and  a  more  extended  use  of 
the  Initial  Vowel  tick;  also  by  stricter  observance  of  the  Rule 
of  Position,  with  explicit  directions  for  the  formation  of  outlines, 
so  that  the  presence  or  absence  of  a  vowel  in  a  certain  place  should 
be  indicated,  and  by  more  definite  rules  for  contractions  and  phras- 
ing. Facility  in  learning  the  art  was  gained  by  plainer  rules 
and  fewer  of  them,  with  a  simple  way  of  writing  vowel  signs. 

With  Phonic  Shorthand  as  a  basis  for  teaching,  my  work  be- 
came a  constant  source  of  delight. 


41 


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42 


The  student's  patli  was  now  a  well  graded  ascent,  void  of  either 
precipices  or  pitfalls.  To  this  personal  satisfaction  in  teaching 
has  been  added  the  approval  of  my  brother  stenographers  and 
the  public;  and  the  united  testimony  of  employers  who  have  my 
graduates  for  amanuenses,  "  Burnz'  writers  can  read  their  notes," 
has  been  to  nie  a  rich  reward. 

In  1872  I  opened  the  New  York  School  of  Phonography,  at 
33  Park  Row,  for  giving  regular  private  instruction.  The  first 
graduate  of  the  institution,  after  "  Burnz'  Phonic  Shorthand  "  was 
exclusively  taught  in  it,  was  Mr.  Charles  A.  Jlorrison,  whose 
career  as  a  competent  and  successful  stenographic  law  and  lec- 
ture reporter  is  well  known. 

The  introduction  of  Phonography  as  a  legular  branch  of  study 
into  the  public  schools  had  for  many  years  been  a  subject  of 
deep  consideration  with  me,  and  during  the  spring  of  1869,  just 
before  coming  to  New  York,  I  visited  the  public  schools  of  Cin- 
cinnati, and  obtained  the  signatures  of  nearly  every  principal 
and  vice-principal  to  a  petition  addressed  to  the  Board  of  Edu- 
cation, that  Phonography  might  be  placed  on  the  list  of  studies. 
The  proposition  was  rejected  on  the  ground  that  Phonography 
was  a  technical  study,  leading  to  a  definite  profession.  I  argued 
that  the  teaching  of  drawing  and  music  might  be  prohibited  on 
the  same  grounds.  After  coming  to  New  York  I  called  on  Mr. 
Thomas  Hunter,  President  of  the  Normal  College,  then  located 
on  Fourth  Street,  to  propose  that  Phonography  should  be  taught 
to  the  girls  preparing  to  become  teachers,  so  that  its  elementary 
principles  might  be  taught  in  the  public  schools  without  addi- 
tional expense  for  special  teachers.  Mr.  Hunter  replied  with  ex- 
pressions of  cordial  approbation,  saying  that  he  had  already  deter- 
mined that,  so  soon  as  the  Normal  was  transferred  to  its  new  build- 
ing on  Sixty-ninth  Street,  Phonography  should  be  placed  upon 
the  curriculum  of  studies.  In  1873,  when  the  Normal  College  had 
become  well  settled  in  its  new  home,   I   called  on  Mr.  Hunter 


43 


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44 


again.  He  said  it  was  time  that  the  subject  received  attention, 
and  asked  me  how  phonography  could  be  taught  so  as  not  to 
interfere  with  the  present  studies.  I  otiered  to  teach  a  free  trial 
class  on  Saturdays.  He  approved  the  plan  and  asked  me  to  write 
for  the  trustees  a  report  of  the  advantages  that  might  be  ex- 
pected to  follow  the  teaching  of  phonograj)hy  in  the  college  and 
schools.  I  made  the  report  and  it  was  published  in  the  l^chool 
Journal.  Not  hearing  from  Mr.  Hunter,  I  went  to  see  him  again, 
and  he  said  the  trustees  had  approved  the  plan  of  a  Saturday 
class,  but  thought  it  best  that  a  man,  one  who  Avas  a  skilled 
reporter,  should  instruct  it.  When  the  day  for  beginning  the 
class  arrived  the  large  room  was  packed  with  young  women  eager 
to  learn  phonography.  It  was  estimated  that  three  luuulred  were 
present.  A  large,  handsome  green  or  brown  bound  textbook  was 
supplied  to  each  would-be  student,  and  a  large,  handsome  man, 
Mr.  Munson,  the  author,  proceeded  to  explain.  It  has  always 
been  a  mystery  to  the  uninitiated  why  there  was  no  crowd  of 
students  at  the  second  meeting  and  that  on  the  third  the  class 
dissolved.  So  far  as  I  have  been  able  to  ascertain  no  further 
teaching  of  phonography  has  been  attempted  at  the  Normal  Col- 
lege. Now,  I  was  not  present  on  the  above-mentioned  Saturdays, 
but  a  college  girl,  who  was  exceedingly  anxious  to  learn  the  art, 
gave  me  her  experience. 

For  the  use  of  my  classes  I  arranged  a  large  chart,  on  which 
were  the  phonographic  stems  in  geometrical  order.  I  had  in  view 
the  using  of  these  charts  in  the  public  schools  for  the  purpose  of 
teaching  from  them  the  nidimentary  principles  of  drawing — 
namely,  exact  straight  lines  and  curves — at  the  same  time  that 
the  pupils  were  learning  the  principles  of  phonography.  A  full 
eight  vowel  scale  was  also  presented  on  the  charts,  by  which  the 
vowel  sounds  could  be  sung  to  the  eight  notes  of  music.  This 
scale  agreed  exactly  with  the  vowels  as  then  taught  in  some  of 
the  schools,  in  which  instniction  was  given  by  means  of  primers 
printed  in  Leigh's  Pronouncing  Orthography.  I  had  a  hearing 
before  the  Book  Committee  of  the  Board  of  Education,  and  my 
charts  were  placed  on  the  list  of  supplies.  But,  a  short  time  after, 
the  book  publishers,  who  do  not  desire  phonetic  print  taught  in  the 

45 


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4tj 


schools,  procured  Leigh's  book  to  be  discontimied,  and  my  charts 
also  were  removed  from  the  supply  list. 

The  Trustees  of  Grammar  School  24,  on  Kim  Street,  with  Miss 
McCosker,  the  principal,  were  desirous  that  a  trial  class  of  the 
hialiest  grade  girls  should  be  instructed  in  phonography,  and 
arrangements  were  made  by  which  a  number  met  me  for  an  hour 
twice  a  week  after  dismissal.  But  the  Board  of  Education  de- 
cided that  such  use  of  any  public  school  building  was  unlawful, 
and  the  class  was  discontinued. 

My  arrival  in  New  York,  from  Cincinnati,  was  in  180!).  In 
1870  there  were  not  half  a  dozen  Avomen  doing  stenographic  work 
in  New  York  City.  To-day  woman  amanuenses  count  l)y  the 
hundreds.  But  as  yet  there  is  only  one  lady  officially  employed 
as  stenographer  in  a  court  of  law,  namely,  Mrs.  Clara  Iv  Brock- 
way,  of  the  United  States  Admiralty  Courts,  of  New  York  and 
Brooklyn.  !Mrs.  Brockway  began  the  study  of  Phonic  Shorthand 
with  me  in  December,  1876. 

Early  in  1871,  perceiving  that  the  field  of  shorthand  ofl'ered 
superior  inducements  to  women,  I  obtained  an  interview  with 
Mr.  Peter  Cooper,  and  endeavored  to  interest  him  and  the  trus- 
tees of  the  Cooper  Union  in  the  work  of  (jualifying  women  to 
become  stenographic  amanuenses.  My  proposal  was  that  the  trus- 
tees should  establish  a  free  class  in  connection  with  the  Cooper 
Institute,  for  the  thorougli  instruction  of  women  in  phonography. 
The  question  was  referred  by  the  trustees  to  a  committee,  one 
member,  at  least,  being  a  lawyer.  On  receiving  the  report  of  the 
committee,  the  trustees  replied  in  the  negative  to  the  proposal, 
giving  as  their  reasons: 

"  First — That  the  art  itself  was  difficult  and  complicated,  re- 
quiring a  long  period  of  study  and  practice  to  use  it  successfully. 
Second — That  the  places  where  shorthand  was  practised  were 
not  suitable  for  the  presence  of   women;    and,  Third — That  the 


47 


,.•). 


<r^ 


^.^,1^,...,^  ,r  "^ 


' ^M)^ '  ^ 


j> 


\ t ' ^^ "^ ^.-^^^ ^ ^^-^ ^ 


L 


-1^...^,^^^. 

•••- — / ^  J  vL^  X . 


^-^ 


•"\'\ 


^ 


n^ 


ht-^' 


6 


<^^^ s<.. 


\ ^ 


, /^ a.n.  "^     '^^  ' 


^  '  .\.. 


,  V 


^ 


^ 


\^  -  4 


48 


business    of   shorthand    reporting   was    a    very    limited    one,    and 
already  fully  occupied  by  competent  practitioners  of  it." 

Feeling  assured,  from  a  personal  knowledge  of  the  phonographic 
field  and  the  workers  therein,  that  these  gentlemen  had  obtained 
but  a  very  dim  light  on  the  subject,  I  solicited  some  -well-known 
stenographers,  lawyers  and  editors  who  had  eniploj'ed  lady  short- 
hand amanuenses  to  give  their  views  on  the  subject.  In  response, 
a  number  of  letters  were  sent  me,  with  permission  to  use  them  in 
aid  of  the  phonographic  cause.  Among  the  writers  were  Mr.  C. 
C.  Hine,  editor  of  the  Insurance  Monitor;  Mr.  Thomas  D.  Stetson, 
solicitor  of  patents:  and  stenographers  Parkhurst,  Underbill,  De- 
vine  and  Robert  Bonynge.  The  replies  of  these  gentlemen  all 
were  to  prove  that  they  considered  the  business  of  shorthand  both 
a  suitable  and  promising  one  for  women.  Their  united  opinions 
were  well  expressed  by  Mr.  Hine,  whose  letter  is  worth  publish- 
ing, because  it  shows  his  acute  prevision  of  the  need  that  was 
then  arising  in  business  circles  for  shorthand  amanuenses. 

"  Office  of  the  Insurance  Monitor, 
178  Broadway, 
Xew  York,  July  21,  1871. 
Mrs.  E.  B.  Burxz: 

Dear  Madam:  In  response  to  your  inquiries  about  my  experi- 
ence with  lady  stenographers,  I  have  to  state  that,  so  far  as  it 
has  extended,  it  has  been  one  of  unqualified  satisfaction.  I  have 
employed  stenographic  assistance  for  over  six  years,  but  the  num- 
ber of  persons  whose  services  I  have  enjoyed  has  been  only  three, 
the  last  one  a  lady.  Concerning  her  I  am  free  to  say  that  she  is 
not  only  the  most  expert  shorthand,  but  the  best  longhand  writer 
I    have    had,    receiving    my    dictation    for    correspondence    and 


49 


^ 


V  ( 


.]^ C. "^     ^     \     (     a_.  X  

""^^^^  >j    -Y^^  ^  "  -^ "^  ^  °^  "~^ 


^ 


r 


50 


editorials  with  entire  accuracy,  and  transcriliing  tlieni  in  a 
business-like  manner. 

In  regard  to  the  field  that  may  be  occupied  by  women  in  tliis 
vocation,  I  believe  it  to  l)e  wide,  but  it  has  as  yet  hardly  been 
opened  by  or  for  either  sex. 

Stenography  we  have  been  accustomed  to  regard  as  an  unusual 
and  expensive  aid.  So  soon  as  it  can  be  obtained  as  readily  and 
at  about  the  same  cost  as  ordinary  clerical  and  bookkeeping  ser- 
vice, I  see  no  reason  why  it  should  not  be  extensively  adopted. 
To  me  it  has  become  a  right  hand.  To  dispense  with  it  would 
involve  a  reorganization  of  my  whole  business  routine. 

As  to  its  suitableness  for  women,  I  can  conceive  of  no  more 
fitting  occupation.  There  are  doubtless  distasteful  and  imprac- 
tical places  where  shorthand  reporters  are  often  employed,  but 
men  can  retain  the  monopoly  of  them,  as  now,  unless  women 
whose  tastes  and  activities  lead  them  in  a  similar  direction 
choose  to  compete  for  them.  It  is  a  grand  mistake  to  suppose 
that  the  courts  or  newspaper  staflFs  furnish  the  only  avenue  of 
employment  for  shorthand  writers.  The  banks,  the  insurance 
offices,  the  law  offices,  the  editorial  rooms,  the  railroad  offices, 
and  all  those  places  where  large  correspondence  is  conducted  or 
original  documents  are  prepared,  are  actually  waiting  and  groan- 
ing for  the  advent  of  just  such  a  labor-saving  device  as  stenog- 
raphy. I  can  think  of  nothing  more  desirable  than  for  a  lawj^er 
or  an  editor  to  be  freed  from  his  pen  and,  while  searching  his 
books  or  exchanges,  to  be  able  to  dictate  aloud,  as  he  reads  or 
thinks,  the  matter  which  he  wishes  inscribed;  or  for  an  over- 
worked cashier  or  secretary,  with  his  immense  correspondence, 
which  no  one  can  answer  but  himself,  to  be  able  to  res])ond  with 
the  rapidity  of  speech,  and  have  his  letters  worded  as  he  wants 
them.  This  and  similar  labor  seems  to  me  to  be  eminently  suited 
to    women,   and   my   experience    makes    me   lU'ge   you    to    enlarge 


51 


-? 


v_(7 


^ 


r^n 


-y-^ 
,.).) 


J. '...X  . 


^ ^ i c -"  ^^-^i^.^-^ , ^ 


/ 


^Jlj « J 


U  J  I, 


y.h ^{^\L.    ^   ^,      \     1 


>/. 


r 


a    n 


—y^x f ^ —  "^ ^ 


n 


X 


'^  ^~<\°-z, ^ 


-"X 


.r^/^  ^  \_-  f -!> ^  '^  )  "^- MX.  ^^ 4 


your  efforts  in  sending  out  accomplished  lady  stenographers. 

Yours  trul}', 

C.  C.  HiNE." 

Fortified  with  these  letters,  the  writer  again  sought  an  interview 
with  Mr.  Cooper.  He  became  much  interested  in  the  matter,  as 
did  also  the  curator  in  the  Cooper  Union,  Dr.  Zachos,  who  in 
former  years  had  been  an  earnest  advocate  of  phonetiL-  spelling, 
and  publisher  of  phonetic  books  for  use  among  the  freedmen  and 
illiterates  generally.  The  result  was  that  Mr.  Cooper  agreed  to 
furnish  a  room,  rent  free,  if  the  teacher  would  give  the  tuition 
free. 

An  experimental  class  of  women  was  organized,  which  began 
in  July,  1872.  Twenty  lessons  were  given,  after  which,  as  the 
room  assigned  contained  no  tables  or  desks  for  writing,  the  pupils 
were  formed  into  an  advanced  class,  Avhich  met  in  another  place. 
Late  in  the  year  another  class  of  ladies  was  formed  at  the  Cooper 
Union,  with  the  hope  that  good  success  in  an  experimental  class 
might  lead  the  directors  to  furnish  a  suitable  room,  and  arrange 
for  continued  instruction,  so  as  to  produce  competent  amanuenses. 
Notice  of  this  second  class  was  made  in  the  New  York  School 
Journal,  of  February,  1873. 

In  accordance  with  the  suggestion  of  Dr.  Zachos,  a  petition 
was  drawn  up  and  was  signed  by  the  members  of  the  second 
and  also  by  many  of  the  first  Cooper  Union  fi-ee  class  in  phonog- 
raphy, asking  that  the  art  should  be  made  one  of  the  studies  of  the 
scholastic  year.  Another  elementary  class  was  taught  during  the 
spring  and  summer  of  1873,  the  ladies  of  which  united  in  a  petition 
similar  to  the  one  above.  At  least  one  hundred  and  twenty  ladies 
attended  these  classes.  The  directors,  however,  declined  to  grant 
the  prayer  of  the  petitioners,  and  for  the  sake  of  extending  the 
usefulness  of  the  classes,  the  next  one,  begun  in  the  fall  of  1873, 


53 


.^ ^_i.!. 


•J 


y  y 


^  '^ ^  ^  ?^ 1  '^  e)  ,  ^/  p  ^  ?  % 


^  V- 


p 


9 — ^ 


7 ^ I^..^^....^H i     ^_^']) 


X rn 


//        a) 


or  I  , 


^ ^ 


n. 


"i 


•- ^^-^f-A^ ____j^.x - 


^ 


../...i'... 


i 


was  taught  in  the  evening,  and  opened  for  men  as  well  as  for 
women.  The  conditions  remained  unchanged;  Mr.  Cooper  gave 
tlie  free  use  of  the  room,  and  1  gave  the  instruction  free.  Usually 
two  courses  of  lessons  were  given  each  year,  one  in  the  fall  and 
the  other  in  the  spring,  each  course  of  twelve  lessons  completing 
the  instruction  given  at  the  Union.  The  classes  were  very  largely 
attended ;  during  some  sessions  the  room,  which  seated  one  hun- 
dred and  thirty  persons,  was  inadequate  to  accommodate  all  who 
applied  for  admission. 

After  the  free  course  of  instruction  Avas  ended  many  pupils 
continued  the  study  from  the  textbook  alone,  while  others  took 
advanced  lessons.  D.  W.  Craig,  assistant  stenographer  at  Police 
Headquarters,  New  York;  Charles  Wimmer,  law  and  lecture 
reporter,  Produce  Exchange,  New^  York;  Peter  P.  McLoughlin, 
Court  of  General  Sessions,  New  York;  J.  N.  B.  Rawle,  Justice's 
Court,  Brooklyn,  and  many  others,  who  are  now  expert  stenog- 
raphers, were  members  of  Cooper  Union  classes.  Mr.  Cooper  him- 
self gave  the  following  testimony: 

"  I  have  received  many  letters  from  pupils  who  have  attended 
the  phonographic  classes  taught  by  Mrs.  Burns,  at  the  Cooper 
Union,  all  of  which  express  a  high  appreciation  of  the  instruction 
given.  One  lady  writes  me  that  through  the  lessons  here  received, 
and  subsequent  practice,  slie  was  enabled  to  go  into  the  courts 
at  San  Francisco  and  take  notes  and  earn  a  livelihood  for  herself 
and  husband,  the  latter  having  failed  in  business.  I  think  the  art 
of  stenogi-aphy  should  be  generally  learned  and  taught  in  our 
schools.  Peter  Cooper." 

In  the  fall  of  1883  the  trustees  of  Cooper  Union  decided  to  open, 
in  connection  with  the  institution,  a  free  day  class  for  the  thor- 
ough instruction  of  women  from  sixteen  to  twenty-five  years  of 
age  in  shorthand  and  typewriting.  Miss  Frances  E.  Parrish,  a 
member  of  my  first  Cooper  Union  class,  was  appointed  teacher, 
and  many  of  the  best  amanuenses  of  this  city  owe  their  efficiency 


55 


■^■^ ^ i 1— - --- --- 


!r I j<..._ ^.. K <s'^....,  n k „ 


<^ --\ &^ - - 

Ij ^.Iv^^ ^ tC_i..L^ - 4 

..r:^ ';r:...}^. ^ >^ >^..l..../...'^"l  "z  "  ^^^^^^..,...^ 

y^ ^- IT" • ^ ^- - r--^ 

OjuAmA >i. .„ ™_ , _..., 

^> ^ ni^ ^->f,^ ^ ^^ 

J :> ^"^-^ _ ^.  ^. 


^  V 


^ ' *^- 

^ X %-^/ ^ v| =^. v.. 


^^>U] 


^_^ 


../ji?.. 


'"^ 


5G 


to  her  faithful  and  enthusiastic  training. 

The  free  evening  classes  at  Cooper  Union  were  continued  until 
1887,  when  the  Board  of  Education  decided  to  have  phonography- 
taught  in  the  senior  evening  schools.  Miss  Parrish  opened  the 
first  class,  which  was  taught  in  the  Houston  Street  School. 
"  Burnz'  Phonic  Shorthand "  being  chosen  as  the  textbook  for 
this  and  other  schools,  I  discontinued  the  free  classes  at  Cooper 
Union. 

In  January,  1875,  Dr.  Burns  passed  away  from  this  life,  and 
in  1876  my  son  Channing  and  myself  formed  a  partnership  for 
publishing.  We  then  changed  "  s "  to  "  z "  in  our  names,  and 
made  the  firm  name  "  Burnz  &  Co."  The  individual  members  of 
our  families  all  spell  the  name  "  Burnz." 

In  1879  I  took  charge  of  the  free  class  in  stenography  for 
women,  opened  by  the  directors  of  the  Young  Women's  Christian 
Association  at  No.  7  East  Fifteenth  Street.  In  1885,  on  the  com- 
pletion of  their  new  building,  the  applicants  for  tuition  had  be- 
come so  numerous  that  it  was  decided  to  form  a  second  class, 
which  was  put  under  the  charge  of  Miss  Louise  E.  Conklin,  who 
had  learned  phonic  shorthand  of  Miss  Parrish.  In  1890  I  resigned 
my  position  as  teacher  at  the  Young  Women's  Christian  Associ- 
ation, and  Miss  Agnes  Beiderhase,  who  had  graduated  in  short- 
hand at  the  New  York  School  of  Phonography,  and  been  a  suc- 
cessful school  teacher  in  New  Jersey,  was  appointed  my  successor 
in  the  first  class. 

In  reference  to  these  Young  Women's  Christian  Association 
Stenographic  Classes,  it  is  only  right  to  say  that  a  strict  exami- 
nation in  the  elementary  branches  of  education  is  given  to  those 
who  apply  for  admission.  Exercises  which  test  ability  in  spelling, 
capitalization,  punctuation,  the  proper  use  of  words,  facility  in 
ordinary  letter  writing,  etc.,  are  given  to  the  applicants,  and  only 


57 


y ^^ V- '^"^ ^- 

- ^ ^ i ^-i^ ^W-^. 


^\.-^. ^f 


ci_D 


in.' 


"T^ 

5,v 


^ /^.^  - ., '^  ^  i^  i. _ 

Ct-^ r^... ( 

' ^-^ ' ^ 

^^^^^p Vvf?^ ^ 


^|,.V^J\_ 


those  who  reach  a  certain  per  cent,  are  admitted  to  the  pliono- 
graphic  chisses.  For  this  reason,  and  because  of  the  thorouijhnesa 
of  the  shorthand  instruction,  which  lasts  for  eight  months,  the 
graduates  of  the  Young  Women's  Christian  Asociation  are  always 
in  denuind. 

I  resigned  the  position  of  teacher  at  the  Young  Women's  Chris- 
tian Association  in  consequence  of  a  desire  to  engage  more  un- 
interruptedly in  literary  work.  The  idea  of  spelling  reform  had 
possessed  me  from  the  first  hour  that  I  learned  of  the  phonetic 
principle.  Since  1846  I  had  worked  for  its  advancement  at  every 
opportunity.  On  the  basis  of  "  a  single  letter  for  a  single  sound," 
I  and  hundreds  of  other  phoneticians  had  laboi'ed  for  many  years 
with  tongue  and  pen  to  bring  before  the  public  the  great  advan- 
tage wliich  would  flow  to  all  classes  from  bringing  English  or- 
thography to  rule  and  reason,  liut  the  queer  appearance  of  a 
purely  phonetic  print  and  script,  arising  from  the  newly  shaped 
letters,  rendered  all  efforts  at  reform  in  this  direction  abortive. 

A  phonetic  alphabet,  formed  without  new  letters,  was  projected 
by  several  persons.  Hon.  Joseph  Medill,  in  a  letter  which  reached 
me  just  as  I  was  starting  South  for  my  work  among  the  negroes, 
first  urged  on  my  attention  the  expediency  of  adding  diacritically 
marked  letters  and  diagraphs  to  inciease  the  alphabet  to  forty 
letters.  Rev.  D.  P.  Lindsley,  in  1874,,  began  advocating,  as  an 
initial  step  to  reform,  the  bringing  of  the  worst  anomalies  of 
English  spelling  to  rule.  In  1875  the  American  Philological  So- 
ciety, which  first  came  into  being  in  1868,  was  reorganized,  and 
held  frequent  meetings  in  Cooper  Union,  at  which  the  question 
of  how  to  bring  about  a  revision  of  English  spelling  was  promi- 
nent. Stephen  Pearl  Andrews  presented  a  scheme  which  he  named 
an  "  English  Standard  Phonetic  Alphabet."  He  added  the  requi- 
site number  of  letters  to  the  Roman  alphabet  by  consonant  di- 
graphs, and  placing  inverted  periods  before  or  after  the  five  letters 


59 


.Jl^ih,^. 


' ' "Of   /. \ X J ^. ) 

^ - ?     K       ^_xr-{^ V y.v-c.     ^ /     1      1—}  J _. 

^l ^±^«.-^-^:: .^A .,.„l ^ >,i^. 


-t5" 


t 4. C ^^.^1^.. ^,,,,,.^^,l.lfe..''.    ^Ij^Z 

..-^^ ^:rl k!.  - 


X 


60 


a,  e,  i,  o,  u,  to  denote  the  long  vowel  sounds.  I  carried  out  the 
same  idea  of  doing  without  new  letters  by  presenting  the  "  Anglo- 
American  Alphabet,"  which  had  been  explained,  illustrated  and 
named  in  the  Nashville  Banner  while  I  was  on  a  visit  to  Nash- 
ville a  few  months  previous.  Mr.  AndrcAvs  and  myself  had  printed 
copies  made  of  our  respective  alphabets.  Mrs.  D.  L.  Scott-Brown 
presented  an  ingeniously  contrived  alphabet  on  the  "  single  letter 
for  a  sound  "  basis,  which  in  consequence  of  the  new  type  required 
could  not  be  printed.  The  meetings  were  animated  and  intensely 
interesting,  were  often  numerously  attended,  and,  in  connection 
with  the  earlier  work  of  the  society,  doubtless  tended  to  create 
that  public  sentiment  which  expressed  itself  during  the  Centennial 
at  Philadelphia,  and  led  to  the  formation  of  the  Spelling  Reform 
Association.  The  American  Philological  Society  should  not  be 
confounded  with  the  American  Philological  Association,  which 
took  the  last  part  of  its  name  to  avoid  conflict  with  the  "  Society," 
which  had  been  incorporated  at  a  prior  date  to  its  own  organ- 
ization. 

In  1876,  at  Pliiladelphia,  I  met  with  the  delegates  to  the  Inter- 
national Convention  of  Spelling  Reformers  from  various  parts  of 
this  and  foreign  countries.  Schemes  and  alphabets  abounded. 
The  plan  of  ]\Ir.  E.  Jones,  of  Liverpool,  England,  coincided  very 
nearly  with  the  one  that  I  devised,  and  thinking  the  name 
"  Anglo-American "  appropriate  to  the  coalesced  alphabet,  we 
agreed  to  so  name  it.  We  were  for  several  years  among  the  vice- 
presidents  of  the  Spelling  Reform  Association,  and  with  the  late 
Alexander  John  Ellis,  so  distinguished  as  the  co-laborer  with  Mr. 
Isaac  Pitman  in  the  early  work  for  spelling  reform  in  England, 
we  opposed  the  proposition  of  the  philological  members  that  the 
English  vowel  letters  should  be  assigned  to  express  the  values 
those  letters  have  in  foreign  languages,  namely,  that  "  e  "  should 
be  sounded  as  "  a,"  "  i  "  sounded  as  "  e,"  etc.  We  were  averse  to 
it  for  the  reason  that  we  believed  such  a  change  from  native 
English  and  American  habit  would  retard  the  advance  of  spelling 
reform. 


61 


- ^\\' 

V.  ^ 1 J  - 


V. 


1,.(L 


I  ^', 


Z",...^ V ^  '^.'  L^- 


vh^^ \ v-^-*^-? ^ v" 


^> 


J -^i^ : ^^^.^..z. \^ ^ 


X 


62 


In  1877  I  published  the  "  Anglo-American  Primer "  for  facili- 
tating the  teaching  of  reading,  and  sent  packages  of  the  books 
out  to  the  Indian  missionary  schools  in  the  West,  with  what 
efiect  I  never  heard.  In  1878  the  "  Spelling  Reformer,"  in  Anglo- 
American  print,  modified  by  the  admission  of  some  diacritically 
marked  letters,  was  published  from  January  to  December,  twelve 
numbers. 

Readers  of  the  Phonographic  Wobld  had  sufficient  experi- 
ence in  perusing  its  spelling  reform  department  during  1890-91 
to  judge  the  merits  of  the  Anglo-American  print.  The  criticisms 
made  upon  it  showed  that  the  majority  of  people,  even  stenog- 
raphers, had  but  a  meager  understanding  of  the  phonetics  of  the 
language,  and  that  little  would  be  done  in  practical  emendation 
of  orthography  until  a  generation  of  teachers  and  pupils  had  been 
accustomed  to  daily  drill  on  elementary  sounds,  so  that  any 
spoken  word  could  be  as  unhesitatingly  resolved  into  its  sound 
elements  as  a  written  or  printed  word  is  into  its  letter  elements. 
Phonetic  print,  with  changed  spelling,  continued  to  be  rejected 
by  the  schools,  although  such  print  had  been  proved  hundreds  of 
times  to  be  the  quickest  and  surest  guide  to  an  acquaintance  with 
common  print.  William  T.  Harris,  Commissioner  of  Education, 
had  often  testified  to  this  fact,  notably  in  "  Circular  of  Informa- 
tion, No.  8,  1893,"  issued  by  the  Bureau  of  Education  at  Washing- 
ton. I  taught  my  own  four  children  successively  to  read  from 
the  phonetic  primer  and  readers  of  E.  Longley  and  Benn  Pitman, 
and  they  transferred  thcnisclves  to  the  common  print  of  ordinary 
juvenile  books.  Every  child  read  so  well  in  entering  new  schools 
as  to  excite  astonishment  in  the  teacher,  and  all  spelled  better 
than  is  usual  with  children  much  older.  It  seemed  to  me,  there- 
fore that  the  common  print  must  he  made  phonetic;  thorough  drill 
on  sounds  being  enforced  on  teachers  and  pupils  by  specially  pre- 
pared elementary  books,  while  yet  the  ordinaiy  spelling  remained 
unchanged.  I  set  myself  to  solve  the  problem,  and  did  so  by  the 
invention  of  "  Burnz  Pronouncing  Print."   In  this  new  print  the  or- 


63 


r rX 


^' 4  t^'       ,  'S< 


/^ -::^: t ^ C. 

k ^. ^Cl _.i5,.l. j> ^ 

....!',..LA.i..v,l^ 


^----^< ^-^-- ^    ^ l^ t^ 

.  \s f = L-^-'U^..^.'>^  5  ')(^.„,>-- 

X,. ri»^ ^ \^^^  L,-l .^  ^ ^ ^ 

\  X      ^ ^ , ^ V _,,_A. 


.  V ' ^  "-  It  " ■■ 

^^ '^ ^ .'X.-^ -^ '•'U y 


-\: 


A t) 


f~/ 


\ 


' r ^ 


-^  V(^ 


-} 
\^-^ 


\_^(^-^~y^  '  C^  K 


64 


dinary  vowel  letters,  a,  e,  i,  o,  u,  unmarked,  denote  the  short  vowel 
sounds,  as  in  at,  ebb,  in,  on,  up,  these  being  the  vowel  sounds  most 
frequently  used  in  speech.  The  long  vowel  sounds  are  denoted  by 
vowel  letters  having  diacritic  marks  attached,  as  in  Webster's 
Dictionary.  Silent  letters  are  printed  with  very  light  line  type. 
A  letter  which  indicates  a  wrong  sound  has  a  very  small  letter 
underneath  it  wliich  indicates  the  desired  sound.  The  following 
cut  illustrates  the  plan: 

BURNZ'  PRONOUNCma  PRINT. 


No  New  Letteks,  or  Change  of  Spelling. 

Tills  new  print  is  offered  to  tiie  educa- 
tional world  for  tiie  purpose  of  effecting 
two  desirable  results :  First,  to  enable 
children  and  illiterate  adults  to  acquire 
a  knowledge  of  Eiiglisii  reading  in  a 
shorter  time  tiian  is  now  possible  by 
means  of  ordinary  primers  or  readers ; 
second,  to  bring  about  a  more  general 
and  thorough  knowledge  of  the  elemen- 
tary sounds  of  our  language. 

With  these  objects  in  view,  this  Pro- 
nouncing Primer — the  first  of  its  kind 
— is  published;  and  the  hope  is  enter- 
tained that,  soon,  other  educational  works 
will  appear,  based  on  this  simple  plan  for 
securing,  in  a  short  time,  the  ability  to 
read  easily  and  pronounce  correctly. 

63 


-^..i..:" ^  "^  ^  °Yi  c_.  .^^^">^ I 

-...^  '^^  \^ ' ^ ^,:.i.Q^<^ ^^^ 

1 s ^ ^— ^>t^-\ ^ ' /^- 

-U-^ ^ ^^^ ^-^^ c-5- 

V L^ ^  V  4.  W^ - _ ^  ■"^' 

\} - \c  \  f  ^  _/--^  ^    --  — -^   N:^ ,  "^ 

"I         "     "     "  y  '"^  ■ 

A i^ <^ i-_^..x r:VV3 ' '2- i ., " 


i^ 


r^\ 


^       A      ^       -^ 


f. 


^ 


\ 


?y 


!/^ 


66 


"The  Stcp-bj'-Step  Primer"  is  the  name  of  the  liist  book  pub- 
lished. It  is  so  called  because  but  one  additional  sound  and 
letter  is  introduced  with  each  new  page.  The  "  Sermon  on  the 
Mount"  has  also  been  printed  with  this  type.  The  primer  is 
used  in  the  famous  Workingman's  School,  103  West  Fifty-fourth 
street,  and  in  many  j)rivate  schools.  Teachers  often  send  for  the 
book  for  themselves,  and  adopt  the  plan  for  blackboard  Work  in 
teaching  reading  when  the  book  has  not  been  supplied  to  the 
pupils  by  the  school  board  of  their  district. 

Since  inventing  Pronouncing  Print  the  thought  has  recurred  to 
me  that  the  foundation  of  a  true  method  of  teaching  to  read 
will  not  be  reached  until  Pure  Phonics  is  taught  in  the  kinder- 
gartens. Children  should  be  accustomed  to  produce  the  element- 
ary sounds  which  compose  the  common  words  they  use  before 
they  are  made  at  all  acijuainted  with  the  letters  which  are  in- 
tended to  represent,  or  misrepresent,  these  sounds.  Xearly  twenty 
years  ago,  in  the  "  Spelling  PJeformer,"  I  claimed  that  Pure 
Phonics,  entirely  apart  from  letters,  should  be  made  an  exercise 
in  the  Kindergartens.  Going  back  to  that  idea  I  am  now  writing 
for  Kindergarten  papers,  and  interviewing  Kindergarten  teachers 
and  trainers.  I  hope  thus  to  sow  some  phonetic  seed  which  in 
the  near  future  will  produce  an  enlightened  and  vigorous  growth 
of  action  that  will  ultimately  bring  to  fruition  a  satisfactory 
revision  of  English  orthography. 

My  attitude  on  the  question  of  Woman  Suffrage  has  always 
been  that  of  claiming  for  my  sex  equal  advantages  and  oppor- 
tunities with  men  for  doing  whatever  woman  has  the  ability  to 
perform.  A  woman  is,  first  of  all,  a  woman.  Her  human  nature 
is  paramount  to  her  performance  of  any  special  function,  or  her 
filling  any  prescribed  sphere.  During  1808  and  part  of  18G9  I  was 
assistant  editor  of  the  Woman's  Advocate,  published  by  A.  J.  Boyer, 
at  Daj'ton,  Ohio.  Since  residing  in  this  city  I  have  been  a  mem- 
ber of  various  organizations  to  promote  equal  sufl'rage,  and  for 
several  years  I  offered  myself  for  registration  before  election. 
Before  coming  East  my  signature  was  Eliza  V.  Burns,  or  E.  V.  B., 
but  wishing  to  retain  my  maiden  name  of  Boardman,  I  substituted 
B.  for  V.  since  1869.  Bj-  careful  observance  of  hygienic  laws,  and 
looking  both  ways  when  crossing  the  streets  lest  trolleys  or  cables 
demolish  me,  I  hope  to  live  long  enough  to  vote  in  New  York, 
and  rather  expect  it  because  my  grandmother,  father  and  two 
maiden  aunts  lived  to  be  ninety  years  of  age. 

My  son  Channing  and  two  grandsons  are  my  personal  contri- 
bution to  the  ranks  of  the  stenographic  profession. 

67 


^<^'V  ^l^-rV^^^-^^ 

V  .f.  ^  "^^y^  U  (  K  (,^<^  -^,( 


1o  C^^^ 


■N •■ ^'V /' 1"^'  aU  1 ■' 

V  ^--, /, i L_  1 \ 'j..>  v^,  <^  " 

-)  rf—  , f  /,     L ;  ^ ^,  v\  ■"-  ^.,.. 

^^,(^,.H ^ ^  , ^ : r-^ ly 

■'  ^ ^  ^  ^ '  ^  ^  \^  ^\  ^ ' 


68 


MRS.  E.  B.  BURNZ'  ACCOUNT  OF  HER  CASE. 

"On  Thursday  evening,  March  fAh,  1896,  Mrs.  Eliza  B.  Burnz, 
aged  seventy-two,  and  liaving  been  in  good  health,  attended  a 
lecture  at  Columbia  College.  About  nine  p.m.  she  was  seized 
with  vertigo,  followed  by  vomiting  and  purging,  and  had  to  be 
sent  home. 

After  twenty-four  houis  of  vomiting  and  purging  it  ceased, 
but  the  vertigo  remained  so  that  she  had  to  keep  her  bed.  The 
third  day,  viz.,  Saturday,  she  was  taken  with  sciatica,  with  which 
she  had  suffered  many  years,  though  at  long  intervals.  A  physi- 
cian was  sent  for  and  in  three  or  four  days  the  sciatica  subsided, 
but  the  vertigo  still  remained,  though  diminished  in  severity. 
On  Tuesday  the  doctor  made  a  thorough  examination  of  Mrs. 
Burnz  and  found  her  organically  soimd  in  every  respect  except 
slight  liver  derangement;  the  urine  was  examined  and  found 
to  be  normal. 

Vertigo  having  subsided  for  several  days,  though  by  no  means 
entirely  gone,  Mrs.  Burnz  sat  up  part  of  the  days  on  the  14th, 
15th  and  16th.  On  IMonday,  17th,  she  had  been  sitting  up  during 
the  afternoon  and  evening,  when  she  rose  to  cross  the  room,  and 
after  taking  two  steps  fell  without  any  premonition,  flat  on  her 
left  side — the  side  in  which  she  had  had  sciatica;  she  could  not 
rise,  and  in  terrible  agony  was  lifted  and  laid  upon  a  couch.  Dr. 
Barstow  was  called  in  and  administered  palliatives  and  next  day 
called  in  a  surgeon.  Dr.  Belden,  as  he  feared  the  head  of  the 
femur  might  be  broken;  Dr.  Belden  decided,  after  measuring  the 
length  of  the  legs,  that  there  was  no  fracture,  but  injury  to  the 
sciatic  nerve  and  ligaments.  Dr.  Barstow  tried  various  remedies 
in  the  way  of  rubifacients,  electricity  and  hypodermic  injections 
to  produce  sleep. 


69 


vv. 


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^> 


^ ^!S-^^^J^^2.^ -^^^ ' 


X ^ 


> 


3  ^  "3^ 


9^ ^ 


^ 


'^', 


U-'^ 


^J 


1 

1     ^ 


\. 


J 


Y 


c  -7  ^  V  •  '^  ^  ^  •      ^    V^ 


-7   ^-   '      -,r-^ 


CL^ 


A—'       ^~i^ 


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r 


,  \^  a 


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X ^ = 


H 


...J irvT> r 

v: , ^  ^:^x|^,  °  ,h,._ 


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,6> 


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3- 


70 


After  four  weeks,  tliere  being  no  improvement  and  the  patient 
remaining  utterly  helpless,  she  was  taken  to  the  Woman's  In- 
firmary, at  No.  5  Livingston  Place,  in  an  ambulance.  The  sur- 
geon there  decided  that  there  was  an  impacted  fracture  of  the 
head  of  the  femur,  which  was  shown  by  the  shortening  of  the 
left,  or  injured  limb.  The  pain  was  incessant  througiiout  tlie 
whole  limb,  and  especially  severe  at  night.  From  the  middle  of 
April  to  June  massage  was  given  almost  daily  and  rubbing  with 
alcohol  or  chloroform  liniment  used  at  night.  f4reat  care  was 
taken  to  give  a  full  supply  of  nourishing  food.  On  the  first  of 
June  Dr.  Kelly  advised  that  a  trial  be  made  to  learn  to  walk 
with  crutches;  for  four  ^A'eeks  previous  Mrs.  Burnz  had  sat  up 
a  considerable  portion  of  each  day  in  a  large  easy  chair.  From 
June  1st  to  August  1st,  when  Mrs.  Burnz  left  the  Infirmaiy,  she 
walked  with  the  crutches  a  little  every  day,  the  nurse  sustaining 
her  by  means  of  a  strong  leather  belt.  There  was  much  pain  and 
no  strength  at  all  in  the  wounded  limb.  During  this  time  the 
right  leg  had  seemed  to  be  partially  devoid  of  feeling,  especially 
in  the  loAver  part,  and  there  was  pain  in  the  knee  in  fiexing  it. 

At  the  present  date,  September  1st,  after  being  five  weeks  at 
home,  eveiy  attention  to  the  limb,  there  has  been  no  improve- 
ment, but  a  greater  stiffness  and  contraction  of  the  muscles  be- 
tween the  hip  and  knee  and  an  increase  of  pain  on  any  motion; 
at  night  it  seems  impossible  to  obtain  a  position  of  the  limb  which 
is  at  all  easy.  The  pain  is  principally  seated  back  of  the  hip-bone, 
extending  downward  across  the  groin  and  sometimes  at  the  back 
of  the  leg  to  the  knee  and  often  on  one  side  or  the  other  below  the 
knee  to  the  middle  of  the  calf.  At  this  time,  as  during  the  past 
month,  the  appetite  is  fairly  good,  stomach  undisturbed,  discharge 
of  urine  normal  as  to  ipiantity,  the  lungs  unimpeded  by  colds,  and 
great  care  has  been  taken,  by  occasional  doses  of  cascara,  to  keep 


71 


'^ > 


<J>     "^ 


"CL^" 


^V 


'^-^>  ,. 


L,  ^   --^'  "  i^  ''  J'  V  '^ 

Y  -^   "I  ^^  (  ^'  ^  ^  \   *N.  X  VV) 

^  ■- '  ^  " * '  1 ' 


■v. 


r 


w 


n: 


the  bowels  regular.  It  is  necessary  to  state,  however,  that  heavi- 
ness and  unsteadiness  felt  in  the  head  and  the  somnolent  tendency 
has  never  ceased  since  the  first  attack  of  vertigo;  there  is,  how- 
ever, no  swimming  of  objects  Avhen  looked  at,  but  when  turning 
the  head  to  change  the  direction  of  vision,  the  eyes  do  not  at 
once  seem  to  apprehend  the  object  looked  at,  and  there  is  a 
consequent  slowness  in  all  action." 


The  foregoing  was  dictated  by  Mrs.  Burnz;  and  after  passing 
the  winter  at  home,  in  about  the  same  condition,  she  concluded 
to  go  to  Walter's  Park,  Pa.    Dr.  Robert  Walter  writes  as  follows: 

"  Mrs.  Eliza  B.  Burnz  arrived  at  our  institution  in  May,  1897, 
suffering  from  a  severe  attack  of  bronchitis  as  well  as  from  a 
broken  hip,  which  rendered  her  ever  afterward  unable  to  walk 
except  with  the  aid  of  crutches.  In  a  short  time  she  recovered 
completely  from  her  bronchitis  but  continued  seriously  crippled, 
confined  to  the  house  and,  substantially,  to  her  room. 

Six  j-ears  she  endui'ed  helplessness  with  fortitude,  but  her  spirit 
Avas  continually  depressed  by  her  inability  to  pursue  her  life  work. 
Mentally  she  was  as  bright  as  ever;  she  had  been  a  patient  in 
this  institution  nearly  twenty  years  previously. 

Mrs.  Burnz  was  a  woman  of  great  tenacity  of  purpose  and 
ambitious  to  serve  her  fellow  men.  During  the  later  months  of 
her  life  she  was  an  intense  sufferer  from  neuralgia  and  succumbed 
to  the  eff"ects  about  the  middle  of  June,  1903.  Her  mind  remained 
clear  up  to  within  a  few  days  of  her  death,  but  toward  the  last 
she  had  lost  consciousness  and  finally  passed  away  peacefully. 
Hers  was,  indeed,  a  life  full  of  good  works." 


73 


* 


n< 


Vt^^ 


."^      '^x , 

I  ^  ^>T  V;  j^^r*' ^^  ' 

^  » - i.s,^,..^,^.v.^^'^ 


74 


IN    MEMORIAM    LETTER    TO    FONIC-SHORTHAND 
CORRESPONDING  CLUB. 

My  Dear  Friends  of  the  Fonie-Shorthand  Correspondinq-  Club: 

The  following  sketch  of  my  mother's  earnest,  thorough,  ])usy, 
fearless  life,  spent  in  the  conscientious  doing  of  what  she  found 
to  be  her  duty,  will  be  all  of  this  letter. 

There  was  born  on  October  31st,  1823,  to  John  Boardman  and 
his  estimable  wife,  at  Rayne,  County  of  Essex,  England,  Eliza, 
their  first  child.  This  child  was  delicate  and  at  thirteen  years 
of  age  sailed  to  America,  by  physician's  advice  and  in  hope  that 
she  might  live  to  grow  up.  She  went  to  kinfolks  in  Tennessee, 
where  she  pretty  soon  became  a  country  school  teacher;  and  from 
then,  through  her  long  life,  with  all  its  work,  pro  bono  publico, 
she  earned  her  living  by  constant  work  and  saved  enough  to  be 
comfortable  at  the  end,  pay  funeral  expenses  and  leave  something 
to  carry  on  her  work. 

While  teaching  a  country  school,  in  1845,  she  read  of  the  newly 
invented  phonography,  of  Isaac  Pitman;  the  whole  plan  of  which, 
in  its  wonderful  simplicity  and  beauty,  unfolded  before  her  mind 
and  she  saw,  as  by  a  lightning  flash,  the  marvelous  results  to 
follow  such  a  presentation  of  thought  and  perceived  the  still 
greater  blessing  to  future  generations,  when  the  truth  as  it  is 
in  phonetic  science  should  be  made  the  basis  of  language  teaching. 
From  1848  to  1850,  in  Ohio,  she  engaged,  body  and  soul, 
in  the  attempt  at  phonetic  reform,  the  workers  for  which  hoped 
to  change  our  spelling  by  showing  the  country  its  folly  in  that 
respect  and  a  way  to  right  it.  Not  disheartened  by  failure  to 
at  once  change  our  mode  of  spelling,  she  continued  phonetic  work 
wherever  opportunity  occurred — notably  by  negro  teaching  at 
Fisk  School,  in  Nashville,  in  1867  and  1868,  where,  by  use  of  the 


75 


..l^,..^-.->Y- 


r^ 


"^-.^J 


f 


-A 


>A.. 


.'TX^  C  ' ^ i ^ ^  ^_^ !._. 

' ^ ^ ^.^-  -],.<  (• ^  t^jj. -s -^-^ :i 


'^' 


%-f 


<^-D 


s.  fr^  C-^/J  C/-! 't^ 


-It 


Vf 


^ 


( ^ kx...qv,J,:5x^. ^ 4 


-p     rv 


■^ 


^         '^- «_P  "^ ^ rJ^ 


C. -2 


^ 


1  y)~^,^ VV "^  ^^A^^ 

.iz:d>v   ^ ^" Cy. ^■. 


\^ 


i,^ .3^ ^ ■\„\-.,:^.,.,Q3. ^, 


old  Longley  phonetic  bookf5,  she  made  the  negro  children  readers 
in  less  than  half  the  usual  time. 

Mrs.  Burnz  then  taught  phonography  actively  in  Cincinnati 
for  some  time  and  came  to  New  York  in  1SG9  and  opened  her 
school  here.  It  was  directly  through  her  effort,  patiently  per- 
sisted in  [because  her  knowledge  of  phonography's  proper  place 
as  a  clerical  help  and  of  woman's  intellectual  adaptability  therefor, 
gave  her  prophetic  sight],  that  Mr.  Peter  Cooper  granted  to  her 
— against  the  advice  of  his  trustees — in  1872  a  room  in  the  Cooper 
Institute,  rent  free,  in  which  to  teach  freely  to  classes  of  women 
her  then  newly  published  system  of  Phonic  Shorthand.  For  about 
seventeen  years  these  classes  were  continued — she  thus  and  in 
many  other  ways  opening  this  new  field  to  women  and  earning 
the  proud  title  of  "  The  Mother  of  the  Young  Woman  Short- 
hander."  When  she  began  to  teach  in  New  York,  in  1871,  the 
women  stenographers  here  could  have  been  counted  on  the  fingers 
of  one  hand;  now  they  number  thousands.  Mrs.  Burnz  was,  in 
1879,  the  first  teacher  of  those  now  well-known  and  much  sought- 
after  classes  in  Phonic  Shorthand  at  the  Y^oung  Women's  Chris- 
tian Association. 

Although  an  active  spelling  reformer  since  184G,  she  was  for 
many  years  of  later  life  convinced  that  there  is  a  primary  need  to 
be  filled  before  reform  shall  be  practicable  with  the  people  or  seem 
to  be  to  the  literaii  and  to  teachers  at  large — namely,  that  speech 
be  made  a  popular  science.  While  evolving  this  theory  she  presented 
the  "  Anglo-American "  alphabet  and  primer,  in  1876-7,  in  which 
there  are  no  new  letters — the  vaiious  sounds  being  represented  by 
common  letters  and  by  digraphs;  then  in  1894  she  perfected  and 
published  her  further  compromise  with  typical  conservatism,  hoping 


77 


i^iirrx^,-) 


X-S,^ 


u 


^,(v,^. 


1,0"  ijj,  / ^ L^^H^rj^ 

>-. '^ ! (L ^ /^ v^-^  "^ -- ^'l^^'' 

J 


:,..^  ^ 2 ^ V  I  ' 


\  ^ 


^U-  4 


n  -N  ^  -I    ^'^        \ 


^^ 


-^  ^ 


S^^ 


^^^c 


/ 


v^^V-,^^_,<^ 


.(L^ 


I ^.^ f'...:^ I .^:^.Y^^,i 


^ 


n^^  V] V 


V 


°> 


."^. 


^  ^     ^  —  1 

w^ i 


-^' 


>  X.  ^  ^  c 


78 


tliat  a  furtlierdawn  of  truth  might  help  the  people,  her  "  Pronounc- 
ing Print " — in  which  the  five  vowels,  a,  e,  i,  o  and  u,  each  stand 
for  their  usual  short  sounds,  unless  shown  by  Websterian  diacritic 
marks  to  vary,  in  whi  h  silent  letters  are  shown  by  hair-line 
type  and  a  letter  standing  improperly  for  a  sound  has  a  very 
small  letter  beneath  it  to  show  the  sound  meant.  After  "  Pro- 
nouncing Print  "  had  been  published  in  a  primer  and  the  Ser- 
mon on  the  IMount,  her  earnest  mind  was  inspired  to  show  teach- 
ers of  kindergartens  that  our  little  tots  should  be  taught  to  speak 
correctly  by  having  knowledge  of  the  phonic  elements  of  speech 
given  them  in  games.  Mrs.  Burnz  was  engaged  in  writing  to  edu- 
cational publications  on  this  subject  and  in  teaching  teachers 
the  value  to  our  children  of  instruction  in  "  Pure  Phonics,"  before 
tliey  know  aught  of  letters,  and  in  arranging  plays  with  sounds 
as  objects  when,  in  the  spring  of  1896,  she  was  taken  ill  at  an 
educational  meeting  and  sent  home  in  a  carriage;  she  was  ill  for 
some  days  and,  when  arising  to  cross  the  room  for  something,  in 
her  nurse's  absence,  she  fell  to  the  floor  and  fractured  her  hip. 
After  several  months  at  a  hospital,  she  stayed  at  home  a  while 
and  then  went  to  Walter's  Park,  in  Pennsylvania,  and  at  that 
noted  sanitarium  was  an  invalid  on  crutches — ^but  not  quite  in- 
valid, for  she  tliought  and  during  the  past  year  has  compiled  into 
a  book  much  of  her  writings  of  1894-5  on  "Pure  Phonics";  and 
the  same  has  been  issued  with  that  title.  But  life  ebbed  very 
steadily  since  its  publication  in  May  last;  and  on  Friday  evening, 
June  19,  1903,  she  died. 

Since  1865  INIrs.  Burnz  has  been  an  ardent  believer  in  the  prac- 
ticability of  and  the  right  to  Woman- Suffrage;  she  was,  in  1868-9, 
an  editor  of  the  Woman's  Advocate,  of  Dayton,  Ohio;  and  even  in 
very  late  years  expressed  the  hope  to  see  it  granted  before  her 


79 


\->' 


rr,"^ - \-\..j  J^ -:^_ 

„^/ _<V -1 / ^ 

..  -   1" 


lln,,\:^yA ^J^  ^  v^ 


^. 


^ 


.._1^.. — ^1^ , ,., •^. 


^.1. 


\  p  s~^  J  J       J^    >- 


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death.  Mrs.  Burnz  was  by  nature  skeptical,  questioning  all  things, 
and  conscientiously  sought  answers  to  all  questionings  of  her 
mind;  as  to  things  theological,  she  was  content  at  last,  however,  to 
own  herself  agnostic — as  well  as  of  the  soul's  continued  life  after 
apparent  death.  She  wished  and  had  only  classical  music — no 
church  hymns — played  by  the  organist  at  her  incineration.  She 
was  a  member  of  the  Society  for  Ethical  Culture  in  New  York 
and  a  grateful  listener  to  Mr.  Felix  Adler  and  his  assistants. 
She  was  a  founder  of  the  New  York  Cremation  Society,  which 
held  its  first  meetings  at  her  school  room,  24  Clinton  Place,  was 
a  stockholder  in  the  U.  S.  Cremation  Co.,  and  her  body  was 
cremated  at  Fresh  Pond,  Long  Island,  on  the  23d  day  of  June, 
1903.  Dr.  John  Elliott,  one  of  Prof.  Adler's  assistants,  spoke  the 
eulogy  over  her  body  before  it  was  incinerated. 

I  think  it  becomes  me,  my  dear  Phonic  Shorthand  Correspond- 
ing Club  and  friends  at  large,  to  announce  myself  as  the  earnest 
would-be  successor  of  my  mother,  to  carry  out  her  work  to  the 
best  of  my  ability  and  keep  before  the  world  her  logical  short- 
hand and  the  importance  of  phonic  instruction. 
Yours  and  the  world's  in  truth, 

Channing  Burnz. 


"Washington,  D.  C,  December  13,  1904. 
Mr.  Channing  Burnz, 

39  East  Eighth  Street,  New  York. 
Dear  Sir: 

I  have  to  thank  you  for  a  copy  of  "  Pure  Phonics  for  Home 
and  Kindergarten,"  by  Eliza  Boardman  Burnz,  recently  received. 
It  is  a  good  memento  of  your  mother,  and  I  am  glad  to  have  the 
book.  She  was  faithful  to  the  cause  of  spelling  reform,  through- 
out her  busy  life. 

(Signed)         W.   T.    HARRIS." 

The  foregoing  autographic  acknowledgment  from  the  Com- 
missioner of  Education,  and  ardent  phonetician,  is  greatly  prized 
by  me. 

81 


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83 


MY  CHILDHOOD'S  MOTHER. 

Afterthought  of  Channing  Buniz. 

I  remember  a  stirring,  never-at-rest,  loving  but  acute  little 
mother;  she  was  always  working,  cleaning,  cooking,  sewing,  or  else 
tending  us  or  teaching  us,  her  four  children — with  her  quiet  dis- 
cretion praising,  scolding,  petting  or  larruping.  And  then  she 
was,  besides,  teacher  of  the  neighborhood's  children  at  school, 
a  mile  or  more  away,  to  which  she  walked  daily — often  twice  a 
day,  at  which  she  earned  much  of  what  we  lived  on.  But  most 
deeply  impressed  upon  my  childhood  memory  is  the  tender  rever- 
ence with  which  she  spent  the  hour  between  twilight  and  dark 
with  her  children,  her  bible  and  music;  she  would  gather  us  all 
about  her  knees,  on  the  door-step  in  summer  or  by  the  fireside 
when  it  grew  cold,  to  listen  to  a  song,  sentimental  or  religious, 
or  to  the  accordion,  and  then  a  chapter  from  the  bible  and  to 
another  tune  or  song;  by  dark  we  must  be  on  our  pallets  on  the 
floor,  or  in  our  beds,  and  go  to  sleep,  "  For  the  old  sandman  is 
putting  sand  in  your  eyes,  you  know." 

The  locality  of  those  first  memories  is  the  sand-hills  of  Sumter 
County,  Alabama — year  1858-9.  Then  there  came  news  from 
Tennessee  that  Grandpa  Burns  had  died  and  that  grandma 
wanted  her  son  John  to  live  near  her.  So  pa  took  the  horse. 
Old  Rumor,  and  in  a  carryall,  with  six-year-old  Ellis  and 
five-year-old  Chan.,  started  out  over  the  roads  through  northern 
Alabama  and  Mississippi  to  Madison  County,  Tennessee.  We 
camped  at  night  beside  the  carryall,  unless  it  rained  and  we 
got  shelter  in  a  house — but  sometimes  there  was  none  and  we 
got   wet   at   night    in   the    carryall.     The    flags    of   the    election 


88 


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display,  at  all  the  towns  we  passed,  still  flaunt  vividly  in  my 
memory — the  Stars  and  Stripes  and  many  others — maybe  some 
were  secession  designs.  But  at  grandma's  our  journey  ended; 
and  we  tarried  there  while  pa  and  the  neighbors  raised  a  double 
log  cabin  on  the  land  near  by  that  Uncle  Henry  Boardman, 
mother's  merchant  brother,  of  Germantown,  Tenn.,  had  bought 
and  given   her. 

Sister  Fanny  Jones  had  gone  to  Texas,  to  live  with  Uncle 
George  Boardman,  before  we  left  Alabama;  and  mother,  sister 
Nettie  and  Grandpa  Boardman  had  stayed  in  Alabama,  with  our 
one  slave,  old  Anthony,  while  we  journeyed  to  Tennessee.  When 
the  house  was  built,  and  when  mother  had  finished  her  school 
and  sold  the  home  in  Alabama  and  settled  matters  there,  she  came 
with  the  rest  of  the  family  by  railroad  train  to  Tennessee,  and 
we  all  went  to  live  in  our  new  home.  It  had  two  rooms,  the 
cabins,  built  of  half-hewn  logs,  chinked  and  daubed  with  clay, 
probably  fourteen  by  sixteen  feet  each,  set  end  to  end,  about 
ten  feet  apart,  a  roof  over  all,  and  each  wath  its  loft  or  attic ; 
in  one  of  these  was  a  chimney  and  fireplace  built  in  the  end  of 
the  cabin,  of  logs,  chinked  and  well  daubed;  such  chinked  and 
daubed  log  chimneys  were  quite  safe,  and  ours  stood  many  a 
roaring  fire.  There  were  two  other  rooms,  of  clapboards  on  frames 
of  riven  logs,  at  the  sides  of  the  cabins,  one  for  kitchen  and  one 
for  Grandpa's  room;  and  the  space  between  the  cabins,  sheltered 
by  the  roof,  though  with  earthen  floor,  served  nicely  for  an  eating 
place  and  for  sitting  in  in  summer. 

Father  gained  some  medical  practice  and  improved  the  place 
— built  stable,  corn-crib  and  fences,  and  got  several  acres  of 
the  timber  cleared  and  grubbed  cultivably;  and  then  the  Civil 
War  came  on  in  dead  earnest.  W^hile  mother's  sympathies 
were  with  the  Yankees,  in  their  wish  for  universal  freedom 
throughout    the    country    and    for    manhood's    responsibility    for 


85 


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every  man,  father  took  no  interest  in  the  negro  question,  and 
said  he  wouldn't  fight  for  either  side.  But,  from  the  persua- 
sion of  the  neighbors,  he  at  length  joined  the  Seccession  army, 
on  the  assurance  tliat  he  would  be  made  surgeon  of  the  regi- 
ment; but  when  enlisted  he  was  put  into  the  ranks  and  an- 
other doctor  appointed  surgeon.  He  went  with  Bragg's  army 
to  Pittsburg  Landing  and,  three  days  before  the  battle  of  Shiloh, 
"lit  out";  dodging  between  the  scouts  of  both  sides  through 
stormy  swamps,  he  got  into  the  Federal  lines  on  the  evening  after 
the  first  day's  battle,  and  found  a  welcome  as  nurse  in  the  full 
hospital  tents.  This  he  told  us  when,  on  furlough,  he  came  home 
one  night,  so  changed  that  his  children  did  not  know  him  in 
the  morning,  though  "  Tige,"  the  old  dog,  did  in  the  dark ;  and 
mother,  awakened  by  his  joyous  bark,  welcomed  the  deserter. 
After  a  day's  visit,  father  bade  us  good-by  and  set  out  for  the 
Yankee  lines.  Mother  kept  all  this  secret,  even  from  pa's  mother 
and  sisters,  who  were  ardent  Secessionists;  and  so  far  as  Madison 
County  knew,  John  B,  Burns  hadn't  been  heard  from. 

After  a  while  Grandpa  Boardman,  at  the  invitation  of  Uncle 
Henry,  went  to  Germantown,  near  Memphis.  He  started  ahorse- 
back, although  sixty-odd  years  old,  and  made  the  trip  success- 
fully. Mother  stayed  in  the  woods  home  with  her  children,  trying 
to  cultivate  the  land  with  old  Anthony's  help,  until  he  died  and 
she  dug,  herself,  a  grave  by  his  cabin  and  got  a  couple  of  passing 
neighbors  to  lower  him  into  it ;  then  she  read  from  the  bible  and 
sang  a  hymn  above  the  body  and  fiWed  in  the  grave  with  her  own 
hands — giving  him  as  decent  a  burial  as  possible.  We  children, 
who  had  watched  his  sickness  and  sorrowed,  seeing  the  kind  old 
negro  lie  dead,  were  the  only  other  mourners.  And  now  our 
mother  was  the  sole  protector  of  the  children  and  the  home. 


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Notwithstanding  mother's  disposition  to  do  good  and  give  the 
world  full  value  for  her  life,  she  Mas  never  liberal  beyond  her 
means — of  too  sound  judgment  for  that.  As  the  arm'es  passed, 
first  Confederate  and  then  Federal,  she  wrs  kind  to  both  in  turn 
and  sold  them  such  bread  and  pies  and  other  eatables  as  she 
could  by  her  foresight  prepare  from  scanty  provisions  in  hard 
war  times;  she  even  stationed  a  table  by  the  roadside,  directing 
one  of  the  children  to  stay  by  it,  instructed  as  to  prices  of  its 
load,  which  a  passing  regiment  would  soon  clear  off,  paying  for 
what  they  took;  you  know  nearly  every  man  is  an  honest  gentle- 
man when  he  is  one  of  an  orderly  company.  Our  house  was  on 
the  big  road,  half  way  between  Bolivar  and  Jackson,  and  the 
soldiers  passed  for  days  at  a  time.  Mother  stayed  there  in  pinched 
thrift,  sometimes  in  dire  poverty;  for  beside  the  want  of  money 
there  was  want  of  goods  in  the  stores  thereabouts,  as  throughout 
the  South.  But  beyond  tliat,  and  more  galling  to  her,  she  was 
in  a  worse  than  alien  country;  for  no  mind  there  in  the  West 
Tennessee  woods  could  think  with  hers,  and  the  hearts  were  set 
in  different  molds.  For  about  two  years  she  was  thus  alone  with 
her  children;  and  then,  father  having  been  attached  to  the  hos- 
pital at  Louisville,  Ky.,  and  the  Federals  having  quite  gained 
possession  of  western  Tennessee,  so  that  they  could  write  to  each 
other  frequently,  it  was  arranged  that  mother  should  again  follow 
him.  To  this  end  we  had  an  auction  of  our  household  things 
and  stock,  etc. — all  there  was,  except  a  couple  of  trunks-full  and 
a  few  bundles,  with  which  we  started  on  the  train  to  Columbus, 
Tenn.,  took  the  boat  from  there  to  Cairo,  111.,  and  then  a  train 
to  New  Albany,  Ind.,  and  across  to  Louisville. 

In  Louisville  pa  rented  a  brick  house  on  Fifth  Street — a  palace  to 
us — and  we  children  soon  started  to  school  astonishing  the  teachers 
by  our  ability  to  read  and  understand  what  we  read — the  fruit  of 
fonetic  teaching  and  instruction  as  to  the  relation  of  words  printed 
to  words  spoken,  mother's  home-teaching.   Mother's  time,  aside  from 


8f) 


home  duties,  I  remember,  was  given  very  largely  to  visiting  the 
hospitals  and  in  trying,  with  the  other  members  of  the  Uni- 
tarian Church,  which  we  attended,  to  foster  union  sentiment. 
Although  father  was  paid  what  seemed  to  us  a  princely  salary, 
I  think  it  was  seventy- five  dollars  a  month,  mother  encouraged 
Ellis  and  me  to  sell  the  song-books,  stationery  and  prize  packages, 
issued  for  the  purpose  by  our  tenant  of  a  part  of  the  house,  at 
the  camp  and  hospitals,  and  also  to  sell  the  same  and  newspapers 
on  the  city  streets,  on  Saturdays  and  holidays;  we  thus  providing 
ourselves  with  spending  money  and  some  necessities,  instead  of 
asking  her.  I  have  blest  her  much  in  later  days  for  thus  teach- 
ing me  pride  in  independence.  In  April,  1865,  at  the  dreadful 
news  of  Abraham  Lincoln's  assassination,  among  all  the  mourners 
mother's  sorrow  was  of  the  keenest.  To  show  her  grief  and  loy- 
alty she  had  no  flag  to  drape  in  crape;  in  those  days  flags  were 
not  on  sale,  as  now,  in  dry-goods  stores,  and  in  Louisville  they 
were  scarce.  The  day  he  was  reported  shot  she  bought  muslin — 
India  red  and  white  and  blue — and  when  we  heard  that  he  was 
dead,  she  hung  it,  draped  in  crape,  from  our  front  window;  the 
houses  thus  decorated  were  few.  I  have  that  flag;  it  was  dis- 
played when  Mr.  Garfield  and  when  Mr.  McKinley  died  by  the 
hands  of  Booth's  imitators. 

I  write  these  early  memories  and  impressions  of  my  beloved 
mother,  as  I  have  but  general  knowledge  of  her  great  life  work 
that  came  .through  and  out  of  such  particulars  as  I  narrate;  her 
autobiography  brought  into  sight  her  ideals,  efforts  and  effectual 
work;  because  of  my  erstwhile  selfishness  and  lack  of  interest,  I 
cannot  treat  particularly  of  them;  but  in  this  personal  tribute 
can  only  say  that  I  loved  and  honored  her  from  my  first  to  her 
last,  and  now  pray  for  strength  to  hold  her  light  up  to  the  world. 


91 


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92 


THE    SCHOOL  JOURNAL:    October   31st,   1903. 

"  Few  of  the  thousands  of  women  stenographers  and  teachers 
of  stenography,  who  hold  their  positions  with  all  the  dignity 
and  respect  accorded  to  men,  know  how  great  a  debt  of  grati- 
tude they  owe  to  their  pioneer  champion,  the  late  Mrs.  Eliza 
Boardman  Burnz.  Besides  championing  the  cause  of  women  in 
business,  Mrs.  Burnz  was  the  inventor  of  a  system  of  phonog- 
raphy, and  the  author  of  considerable  phonetic  literature.  In 
1895  Mrs.  Burnz  finished  her  '  Pronouncing  Print,'  a  book  in 
which  the  ordinary  spelling  is  I'endered  reasonably  phonetic  in 
its  indication  of  spoken  words.  She  had  already  done  much  to 
interest  educators  in  the  efficacy  of  phonics  for  teaching  foreigners 
to  read  our  print,  but  her  next  purpose  was  an  effort  to  assist 
in  the  educational  plans  aiTanged  for  children.  She  believed  that 
the  child,  when  it  begins  work  in  the  kindergarten,  should  be 
taught  that  talking  is  reducible  by  analysis  of  each  word  into 
sound  elements.  The  child  should  also  be  shown  how  to  make 
this  analysis  in  words  of  two  or  three  sounds,  with  songs  and 
plays,  without  any  knowledge  of  letters.  Thus  she  included  the 
principle  that  the  spoken  word  is  the  primal  form  in  language 
and  foreruns  the  printed  word.  Until  the  time  of  her  death  last 
June,  Mrs.  Burnz  worked  on  this  book  by  compiling  her  writings 
bearing  upon  this  idea.  The  book  is  a  fitting  memorial.  Its  title 
is  '  Pure  Phonics.'  It  is  an  extremely  readable  little  volume, 
comprising  a  collection  of  essays  upon  the  need  of  instruction  in 
pure  phonics,  lessons  and  games  as  examples  of  how  it  should  be 
taught,  and  suggestions  as  to  following  kindergarten  instruction. 
The  last  point  is  illustrated  by  letters  in  the  manner  of  '  Pro- 
nouncing Print '  in  the  primary  school.  Examples  are  given  such 
as  were  used  in  her  '  Step  by  Step  Primer.' " 


93 


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MR.  B.  C.  IHURRAY,  IN  SUNDAY  GAZETTEER, 
of  Dennison,  Tex.,  Novembtr  1st,  l'J03. 

"  We  were  pleased  to  receive,  a  few  days  ago,  a  copy  of  a  book 
entitled  '  Pure  Phonics,'  the  last  of  the  many  valuable  educational 
works  published  by  INIrs.  Eliza  Boardman  Burnz,  whose  useful 
life  was  closed  on  the  19th  of  June  last.  The  writer  had  the 
pleasure  of  a  personal  acquaintance  with  the  gifted  lady,  who 
devoted  a  long  and  useful  life  to  an  earnest  endeavor  to  impress 
upon  the  public  the  importance  of  a  reformation  of  our  barbarous 
orthography.  The  little  work  before  us,  of  about  a  hundred 
pages,  is  a  collection  of  short  essays  presenting  the  need  and 
method  of  teaching  the  elementary  sounds  of  our  language  to 
children,  before  they  are  taught  to  read.  Her  idea  was  to  intro- 
duce this  instruction  into  the  homes  and  kindergartens,  and  in 
in  a  way  that  would  interest  the  little  tots  and  at  the  same 
time  train  them  in  distinct  articulation  and  clear  enunciation, 
thereby  laying  a  foundation  that  would  be  lasting.  The  interest 
of  the  children  is  awakened  and  maintained  by  resolving  words 
of  two  or  three  letters  into  their  sound  elements  and  showing 
them  how  to  do  this  by  pretty  songs  and  vocal  organ  exercises. 
This  book  presents  strong  and  convincing  arguments  for  the 
correctness  of  her  theory,  and  the  several  lessons  give  a  clear  idea 
of  the  method  to  be  followed  by  the  teacher.  Mrs.  Burnz  was 
actively  engaged  in  instructing  teachers  and  writing  and  lecturing 
on  this  subject,  when  in  189G  she  met  with  an  accident  which 
made  her  a  cripple  and  which  finally  resulted  in  her  death.  The 
preparation  of  this  volume  for  publication  was  the  last  w'ork 
she  did,  and  which  she  said  she  would  leave  as  a  phonic  seed  to 
sprout,  and  grow  into  a  fruitful  tree.  We  have  strong  faith  in 
Mrs.  Burnz'  idea,  and  believe,  if  generally  adopted  by  kindergarten 
teachers,  it  would  prove  of  lasting  benefit  to  the  little  ones.  We 
should  like  some  of  our  teachers  to  give  it  a  trial,  and  if  any 
of  them  desire  to  investigate  the  method  and  will  call  at  this 
office  we  will  be  pleased  to  loan  them  this  copy  of  Pure  Phonics 
for  inspection." 

95 


_-..._,-- ..^'^.^.T  ^  1^.  -'^-  \,  ^-  

.._..!!'.!.'^....'yiE'^ORIAM    ELIZA  B-OARDMAN    BURNS. 

.;^'v,\'^-t^:^v^^^"^- 

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Excerpt  from^the  report  of  the  Annual  Meeting  of  the  New 
York  State  Stenographers'  Association,  of  August  28th,  1903. 

"IN    MEMORIAM,    ELIZA    BOARDMAN    BURNZ. 

Eliza  Boardman  Eurnz,  librarian  of  this  association  from  I880 
to  1893,  and  since  that  time  one  of  our  honorary  members,  died 
on  June  19th,  1903,  at  Walters  Park,  in  the  State  of  Pennsylvania. 

Mrs.  Burnz  was  an  Englishwoman  by  birth,  having  first  seen 
the  light  of  day  at  Rayne,  Essex,  England,  on  October  31st,  1823. 
Had  she  lived  until  October  next  she  would  have  completed  her 
eightieth  year.  She  came  to  this  country  when  a  young  girl  and 
led  a  very  active  and  useful  life  up  to  within  a  few  years  of  her 
death. 

Though  interested  in  many  progressive  movements  during  her 
busy  career,  first  as  an  associate  of  Qianning  in  his  emancipation 
crusades,  and  later  as  an  ardent  advocate  of  woman  suffrage,  Mrs. 
Burnz  will  be  chiefly  remembered  as  an  enthusiast  in  the  cause 
of  spelling  reform,  as  the  author  of  Burnz'  Fonic  Shorthand  and 
as  the  '  mother '  of  women  stenographers. 

At  this  same  hotel  in  which  we  are  now  holding  our  sessions, 
at  the  meeting  of  1889,  Mrs.  Burnz  read  an  excellent  paper  on 
the  subject  of  spelling  reform;  and,  indeed,  a  perusal  of  our 
proceedings  will  show  that  at  each  annual  meeting,  while  she 
retained  her  active  membership,  she  was  always  on  hand  ready 
to  discuss  and  debate  her  pet  subject.  One  of  the  chief  argu- 
ments used  by  Mrs.  Burnz  in  favor  of  the  reform  in  our  spelling 
\\  as  that  it  would  give  a  true  representation  of  English  words  as 
they  are  pronounced.  In  learning  phonography  she  became  imbued 
with  the  spirit  of  phonography,  which  is  to  represent  a  sound  by  a 
sign,  and  this  led  her  to  enter  the  ranks  of  the  spelling  reformers. 
She  claimed  that  by  the  adoption  of  this  reform  a  child  or  a  for- 
eigner could  learn  to  read  English  in  half  the  time  that  is  now 
necessary  to  master  the  language.  She  contended  that  useless  let- 
ters in  words  were  as  superfluous  as  a  fifth  wheel  to  a  coach,  and 
when  called  upon  for  illustrations  was  always  ready  with  the  un- 
necessary '  ue  '  in  such  words  as  '  catalogue,'  '  epilogue,'  '  prologue  ' 

97 


-^  '^-^y^ ^  \  ^^ - '^ '" \-^  \ 

^ " 4'  A"- '  ^  \^t^,i^'^. ^  ^ 

1 ^^U-)V(V^^>.^^./ vfi 

■'^'■Ht; •  "^  ^  ^  "^  "^'^ "-'""-" ^ 

i - -  ^  t-^L  ^  ^'  \  ' ^  ■^'  ^ 

. \^f^J^ ^ - -V;^,^..-^ 

\  '     — ■  ''     L  •  ^ 

^ ;. /    ^    V^ ^ Ik     J     -    --    \  . 


98 


and  '  demagogue.'  Though  she  did  not  receive  very  much  en- 
couragement from  this  association  in  this  branch  of  her  work, 
she  kept  up  her  interest  in  it  and  never  relinquished  her  faith 
in  its  final  accomplishment.  In  one  of  her  last  papers  read  be- 
fore this  association  on  this  subject,  she  said:  'Sooner  or  later 
it  must  be  done.  It  will  come,  and  it  might  come  far  more  rap- 
idly if  the  various  literary  and  educational  classes  and  societies 
would  individually  work  for  it.  At  present  the  creation  of  pub- 
lic opinion  is  chiefly  through  the  efforts  of  a  few  isolated  in- 
dividuals. These  few  with  faith  in  the  spirit  of  eternal  progress, 
and  utilizing  such  opportunities  as  they  have  at  their  command, 
every  now  and  then  let  the  world  know  that  the  idea  of  spelling 
reform  has  not  been  abandoned.' 

The  world  is  better  off  for  the  presence  in  it  of  such  enthusi- 
asts who,  seeing  evils  in  one  direction  or  another,  seek  to  remedy 
them,  rather  than  to  stand  complacently  by  and  say,  '  It's  no  use 
trying;  better  leave  well  enough  alone.'  Though  the  peculiarity 
of  our  spelling  is  not  any  wonderful  evil,  her  continued  criticism 
of  it,  in  spite  of  opposition  and  lack  of  encouragement,  enables 
us  to  judge  of  the  forceful  character  of  Mrs.  Burnz.  She  labored 
with  zeal  and  enthusiasm  to  remedy  what  she  considered  an  evil. 
She  had  the  undaunted  spirit  of  the  true  reformer  who  is  not  dis- 
mayed, discouraged  or  cast  down  by  the  failure  of  the  world 
to  listen  to  the  proposed  reform.  One  of  her  favorite  essays,  which 
appears  in  each  edition  of  her  text-book,  is  entitled  '  The  Reformer,' 
and  from  it  she  doubtless  took  her  conception  of  what  a  real 
reformer  might  expect  to  meet  with.  It  says :  '  All  history  and 
all  experience  teach  us  that  new  ideas  are  unpopular  with  the 
masses  of  men,  and  that  those  who  advance  them  must  expect 
opposition  and  persecution.  By  a  sort  of  instinctive  desire  for 
preservation  men  cling  to  the  old  with  a  grasp  that  is  not  easily 
loosed  until  they  have  become  prepared  to  receive  the  new. 
What  then  is  the  duty  of  the  reformer?  Shall  he  cease  to  pro- 
claim his  message  because  men  are  not  prepared  to  receive  it? 
Nay,  not  so.  The  command  is  upon  him  and  he  cannot  choose 
but  speak.  For  he  is  but  an  instrument  through  which  the  Great 
Unknown  works  out  His  designs  and  purposes  in  the  world,  and 
his  progression  as  well  as  his  neighbor's  conservatism  is  a  neces- 

99 


.r.. ...x- 


^ \\i\^^^  j^y^^U 

^S^-Sl ^■^\-.^'^ 

'J  Vi^  -^^  ^,  .  ^  '-,  '  "  X^"  L, 

'^  ^\ J -^  .y I'^u^^ 

-  J  ^;^  ^ — ^} ^^,  ^  ^  I  - 


100 


sary  condition  to  the  exact  and  orderly  working  of  the  universal 
and  ever- persistent  law  of  progress.  His  thoughts  are  as  children 
born  to  him  which  he  may  not  carelessly  let  die.' 

Thus  inspired  with  the  spirit  of  the  real  reformer,  Mrs.  Burnz, 
firm  in  the  belief  that  slavery  was  wrong,  took  her  stand  with 
those  who  sought  its  abolition;  believing  that  women  should  have 
equal  rights  with  men  she  strove  earnestly  to  bring  about  woman 
suffrage,  and  filled  with  a  desire  to  simplify  the  education  of  the 
masses  she  labored  earnestly  in  the  cause  of  spelling  reform. 

As  the  author  of  Burnz'  Fonic  Shorthand  Mrs.  Burnz  took 
her  place  beside  the  many  who  undertook  to  modify  or  improve 
upon  the  system  of  shorthand  invented  by  Isaac  Pitman.  She 
made  no  claim  of  originality.  All  that  she  did  claim  for  lier  work 
was  that  it  treated  all  parts  of  the  subject  with  exceeding  sim- 
plicity, adapting  it  even  to  the  comprehension  of  a  child.  In  the 
preface  to  her  text-book  she  frankly  stated :  '  The  author  lays 
no  special  claim  to  originality,  but  acknowledges  with  pride  and 
pleasure  her  indebtedness  not  alone  to  Mr.  Isaac  Pitman,  the  in- 
ventor of  phonography,  and  the  grand  source  of  inspiration  on  this 
subject,  but  also  to  the  many  other  lovers  and  practitioners  of  the 
art,  who  have  written  and  published  more  or  less  respecting  it. 
And,  further,  she  acknowledges  her  many  obligations  to  a  large 
number  of  able  reporters  in  New  York  and  various  parts  of 
America  and  Great  Britain  who  have  assisted  her  by  friendly 
suggestions  and  given  her  the  best  results  of  their  experience. 
These  gentlemen  will  ever  be  held  in  grateful  remembrance  and 
cheerfully  accredited  with  whatever  aid  they  have  furnished.' 

It  certainly  can  Ije  claimed  for  the  Burnz  system  that  it  is 
one  of  unexampled  legibility.  Its  use  by  reporters  for  many 
years  has  proven  its  rapidity.  These  two  features — legibility  and 
speed — entitle  it  to  stand  among  the  best  systems  of  shorthand 
in  use  to-day. 

Perhaps  Mrs.  Burnz's  surest  claim  to  fame  is  as  a  teacher 
and  as  the  so-called  '  mother '  of  women  stenographers.  About 
1872,  when  such  a  thing  as  a  woman  stenographer  in  an  office 
was   practically    unknown,   when    the   typewriter   had    not    quite 

101 


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^^^^^^(-,^', 


^ ^  iHA. 


/"  ^ 


t/ 


''^  > 


\^^  n. 


loe 


been  perfected,  and  w  hen  the  court  stenographer  was  looked  upon 
as  some  sort  of  a  mysterious  magician,  Mrs.  Burnz  secured  from 
that  great  phihanthropist,  Peter  Cooper,  against  the  advice  of  the 
trustees  of  Cooper  Union,  a  room,  rent  free,  in  which  to  teach 
shorthand.  Her  class  was  not  a  part  of  the  regular  course  in 
Cooper  Union  and,  in  fact,  she  was  looked  upon  as  somewhat  of 
an  outsider.  Notwithstanding  opposition  she  went  about  her  work 
with  the  same  enthusiastic  spirit  which  characterized  everything 
she  did.  She  gathered  a  small  class  of  ambitious  young  men  and 
women  about  her  and  week  after  week  imparted  to  them,  in  a 
clear  and  comprehensive  manner,  the  principles  of  the  mystic  art. 
From  that  small  beginning  by  a  sincerely  earnest  woman,  labor- 
ing to  better  the  condition  of  young  men  and  young  women  of 
the  great  city  by  teaching  them  shorthand,  free  of  charge,  there 
has  come  in  the  last  thirty  years  that  immense  army  of  self- 
supporting  young  wcmien  stenographers.  Mrs.  Burnz  taught  short- 
hand largely  for  the  love  of  it.  The  classes  in  Cooper  Union  were 
free,  as  were  those  in  the  Young  Women's  Christian  Association. 
As  an  instructor  she  was  painstaking  and  tliorough.  She  insisted 
that  her  pupils  should  thoroughly  master  all  the  principles  of 
phonography  before  any  attempt  was  made  to  acquire  speed. 
When  she  wrote  she  made  the  most  perfect  shorthand  outlines, 
and  she  endeavored  to  teach  her  pupils  to  do  likewise.  She  real- 
ized that  if  the  race  for  speed  was  begun  too  soon  the  making 
of  shapely  outlines  would  be  out  of  the  question.  She  maintained 
that  speed  in  reading  notes  after  they  were  taken  was  just  as 
essential  as  speed  in  writing  them.  She  had  no  sympathy  with 
the  numerous  fake  schools  that  sprang  up  all  over  the  country, 
where  it  was  claimed  that  a  person  could  become  an  expert  re- 
porter in  three  months.  In  her  later  years  she  had  the  pleasure 
and  satisfaction  of  seeing  some  of  her  early  pupils  turn  out  to 
be  expert  reporters  of  whom  it  could  be  said,  with  truth,  that 
the  could  read  their  notes. 

Mrs.  Burnz  was  for  many  years  an  interested  member  of 
this  association.  She  was  its  first  librarian,  serving  in  that 
capacity  from  1885  to  1893.  Our  proceedings  for  1893  contain 
a   complete   list   of  the   books   in   the   library,   compiled   by   her. 

103 


\ .,^'J^ f^^' > 


ft^ 


...CI"    ---^  ; X^x    ik-Zl / A   /I  ^ 


=  S  Ln  .  T ^ 1?  ^A,^-.  ' 


,.x: ^  '    f..^... ^..x ._ ;..._ 


X^  ^  <.^  ^9  /^  ,  t  .  /:) 


}d'1-^ '  W^- 

-^  ^.-^ A 11,        -/" x k 

' ^..._..^^„.x,    ."si   X 


t^ r . 


. \ — 1^ 'A ^." K ' ^ V 


•■\'^-- ^^f-^ ^-^ ^^ _xv^ 1  ' \_^ "L 


^   ^ ;__  T^  \y^ 

^,/v  L  ^ ^,  ,^ ^ W  ^  ^  ^^ 

^^ :^ =- Y' ^  ^^^^  ^'^ ~ 


104 


She  resigned  her  active  membership  and  her  position  as  libra- 
rian in  1893,  in  a  letter  in  which  she  said:  'Dear  friends:  with 
feelings  of  the  highest  esteem  and  gratitude  for  the  uniform 
kindness  and  many  special  favors  I  have  received  from  you, 
both  individually  and  as  an  association,  I  tender  my  resigna- 
tion from  your  honorable  body.'  These  kindly  sentiments  were 
reciprocated  by  the  passage  of  a  resolution  by  the  association 
expressing  its  appreciation  "  of  her  interest  in  all  matters  relating 
to  shorthand  which  had  continued  unabatediy  for  many  years.' 
To  evidence  the  high  regard  in  which  she  was  held  by  the  pro- 
fession Mrs.  Burnz  was  then  elected  an  honorary  member  of  the 
association,  and  so  continued  down  to  the  time  of  her  death. 

In  the  passing  away  of  this  good  lady  the  New  York  State 
Stenographers'  Association  has  lost  a  valued  honorary  member; 
the  shorthand  profession  in  the  United  States  a  pioneer  in  the 
teaching  and  practice  of  phonography,  and  the  writer  of  this 
imperfect  memorial  an  early  benefactor  and  a  lifelong  friend. 

Resolved,  That  the  New  York  State  Stenographers'  Associ- 
ation records  its  sincere  regret  at  the  death  of  Eliza  Boardman 
Burnz,  its  first  librarian  and  distinguished  honorary  member. 

Resolved,  That  a  copy  of  the  memorial  read  and  the  fore- 
going resolutions  be  forwarded  to  the  relatives  of  our  late 
member.    Adopted." 

The  above  Memorial  and  Resolutions  were  written  and  offered 
to  the  meeting  by  Mr.  Peter  P.  McLoughlin,  who  was  a  member 
of  one  of  the  early  Cooper  Union  classes,  and  afterward  took  a 
few  private  lessons  with  Mrs.  Burnz.  Since  1887  he  has  been  of- 
ficial stenographer  of  the  Court  of  General  Sessions  in  New  York, 
and  has  reported  with  exceptional  ability  its  very  difficult  matter, 
including  a  number  of  extremely  intricate  and  technical  cases, 
requiring  not  only  great  speed  and  staying  power,  but  absolute 
accuracy. 


105 


.X.< 5^«^ 


mmnl.  A  \ ^   . ^ 


^^^t A^ J 


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u- 


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,^"'.  t., 


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: z -  h ^ „ ■3, 


lUO 


POEMS    BY  MRS.  ELIZA  B.   BURNZ. 


REMINISCENT  NEW  ENGLAND. 

Recited  by  her  at  a  literary  entertainment  held  by  the  teachers 
of  Nashville,  in  1866;  but  it  has  never  been  published  otherwise 
till  now. 


A   Pilgrim   Mother   is   walking   by   the   shore   of   the   Atlantic 
Ocean:  she  muses: 

Dear  island  home,  where  friends  and  kindred  dwell. 
Far  have  I  wandered  from  thee;   yet  a  spell 
Of  melancholy  sweetness  wraps  my  soul 
When  my  lone  musings  o'er  the  blue  waves  roll, 
And  in  my  view  the  cliffs  of  Albion  stand — 
Giant  protectors  of  that  sea-girt  land; 
I  see  the  meadows,  fields  of  bending  grain. 
Thou,  noble  river,  royal-towered  Thames, 
Fair  villages — half  hidden  "neath  the  trees. 
Each  cottage  with  its  garden,  murmuring  bees 
And  rose  and  jas'mine  o'er  the  casement  twined, 
The  limpid,  pebbly  brook  that  loves  to  wind 


107 


I ^;^-_^ \,_ 


■ef --t^ 4 ^■ 


.^. 


/( r° J L=. 

S,t ^,  -^v 


c  ^'f 


r 


y  .' " 1 

d ^ -^^-^^ 

^J-^^  ^- 

: -^  A,     ^    ^ 

,:._.\ \^^ ^ ' r^. ^ 


108 


Amid  tall  rushes  wild — upon  its  breast 
The  water-lily's  petals  gently  rest. 

Dear  English  scenes,  imprinted  on  my  mind 
With  all  youth's  sweet  remembrances  entwined, 
Can  I  forget  ye?     Never!   while  this  heart 
Is  memory's  seat,  ye  cannot  thence  depart. 
England!     Although  across  the  ocean-foam 
To  this  fair,  fertile  land,  my  chosen  home, 
Thour't  still  my  country.     Must  I  not  be  true 
To  that  green,  fertile  isle,  where  first  I  drew 
The  breath  of  life,  heaven's  boon,  the  earliest,  best? 
There,  too,  the  ashes  of  my  fathers  rest; 
Where,  but  beneath  Britannia's  verdant  sod. 
By  altars  where  her  children  bow  to  God 
And  where  my  infant  lips  were  taught  to  raise 
The  voice  of  prayer — the  notes  of  love  and  praise? 
Where  are  my  sisters,  where  that  ardent  friend 
On  whose  warm  sympathy  I  could  depend 
In  every  childish  sorrow,  schoolmates,  too? 


109 


V. 


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^.^Xt. "^ ^ 


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^  ,   -^ 


» /!-— — -v-^-, - ^.- , 


110 


All  far  beyond  those  swelling  fields  of  blue. 
And  can  I,  native  England,  wish  thee  ill? 
Never!     With  all  thy  faults  I  love  thee  still. 


CONGRATULATION, 

On  the  birth  of  a  first  child;   Walters  Park,  Pa.,   1902. 

Dear  friend,  the  crown  of  motherhood  is  yours; 

The  halo  shines  around  your  pallid  brow, 

As  erst  it  shone  o'er  all  the  sainted  heads 

Of  virgin  motiiers,  worshiped  by  all  men — 

Isis  with  Horus,  Maia  with  Buddha  blest, 

Mary  with  Jesus,  and  each  lowlier  maid 

Whose  womb  has  been  the  source  of  life  and  power 

And  brought  regeneration  to  the  world. 

Be  strong  and  happy  in  the  glorious  thought 

That  you,  in  motherhood,  have  blessed  your  race. 


Ill 


ANENT    PECULIARITIES    IN    THE    SHORTHAND 
WRITING    HEREOF. 

By   Chanrting  Biirnz. 

My  mother,  in  her  text-book  of  Fonic  Shorthand,  hiid  founda- 
tion of  phonography  to  be  developed  logically  by  the  student, 
under  such  plain  rules  that  peculiarities  so  developed  would 
merely  vary,  not  change,  her  system.  My  practice  of  Fonie 
Shorthand  has  led  to  developments  which  I  mention,  following, 
as  elucidation  of  the   shorthand  herein  and  as   suggestions. 

Shorthand  phrasing  of  words  which  group  themselves  grammati- 
cally, makes  the  reading  easier  when  the  signs  follow  in  facile 
outline.  The  following  rules  for  phrasing  are  herein  observed, 
and  numerals  expressed  in  words  are  written  in  accordance  with 
four  pages  following. 

A  and  /  are  indicated  by  the  dot,  second  place,  and  by  the 
upright  tick,  first  place;  or  by  initial- vowel-ticks  prefixed  to  any 
simple  stem  or  to  an  initial  hook  or  tick. 

A  is  never  joined  after  another  word  to  which  the  would  be 
joined  by  its  tick  sign — a  sloping  final  or  medial  tick.  But  the 
sign  for  a  may  be  omitted  from  a  number  of  phrases  of  which 
the  word  is  an  integral  part — e.g.,  "  twice-a-day,"  "  it-is-a-grand- 
mistake." 

/  is  sometimes  phrased  between  other  w^ords,  by  an  upright 
or  horizontal  tick;  and,  occasionally,  finally,  when  its  direction 
is  easily  and  unmistakably  shown — e.g.,  "  am  I,"  "  can  I,"  _"  do 
I,"  "  give  I."  /  is  also  exceptional,  as  a  tick-sign,  in  that  it  is 
usable  before  an  initial  circle — e.g.,  "  I  said." 

The  is  indicated  by  the  dot,  third  place,  and  by  a  sloping-tick 
after  another  word,  or  by  changing  a  final  small  circle,  or  a  circle 
word-sign,  into  a  small  loop,  or  by  halving  an  upright  or  sloping 
stem  of  third-position,  position  of  which,  below  line,  shows, 
surely,  stem  is  half-length  (colloquial  oral  omission  of  the  where 
it  miglit  properly  be  used,  is  so  common  that  verbatim  notes 
must  indicate  its  utterance)  or  by  halving  stem  N  for  in-the  and 
stem  F  for  if-the  (because  half-length  curved  stem  is  not  apt 
to  be  mistaken  for  half -circle  only). 

In-the  and  in-their  or  in-therc  do  not  require  the  initial  vowel 
tick. 

Inasmuch  as  the  after  circle  word- signs  is  indicated  by  chang- 
ing circle  to  loop  and,  after  uprights  and  slopes  of  third  posi- 
tion and  after  in  and  if  by  halving  stem-sign  for  consonant- 
sound  and,  as  of -the  is  written  with  the  arbitrary  check -sign  or 

112 


indicated  by  proximity  of  words  before  and  after  it,  a  liorizontal 
or  perpendicular  tick  may  be  written  after  circle- word-signs, 
after  if,  in  or  of  half-circles  and  after  uprights  and  slopes  of 
third  position,  as  do,  fo,  irhicli,  etc.,  for  the  article  a;  such  being 
the  only  exceptions  to  its  regular  normal  phrasing  by  the  initial 
vowel  tick  only. 

A  and  /  ticks  are  placed  in  proximity  to  a  following  word, 
then  having  the  added  significancy  of  the  dot  for  eog,  com  or  con. 
Analogously,  writing  ticks  for  the  or  him,  or  a  circle  word- sign, 
close  to  a  preceding  stem,  indicates  ing  after  the  stem  and  before 
such  word  sign. 

Tick  for  he  is  not  phrased  freely,  because  third  person  is  apt 
to  be  mistaken  for  first  person,  in  reading.  But  it  may  be  safely 
prefixed  to  a  few  words  which  it  brings  out  of  position,  by  the 
rule  that  he,  as  a  first  tcord  in  a  phrase  keeps  its  position,  and  to 
is.  I  takes  the  position  of  the  word  to  which  it  is  prefixed.  He, 
as  an  affix,  must  keep  its  direction  and  shading,  immistakably. 

Him  is  afiixed  to  previous  stem  whenever  it  phrases  with  pre- 
vious word  and  joins  so  as  to  keep  its  direction — e.g.,  "  knew 
him." 

And  is  joined  by  a  sloping  tick — retty  or  ehetty — to  a  follow- 
ing word  only,  and  should  be  so  joined  when  grammatically 
phrased  and  facile;  but  not  before  a  circle;  it  is  never  a  final 
word  of  a  phrase.  And  may  also  be  used  in  proximity  to  a 
following  word;  thus  indicating  after  its  own  power  a  first  syl- 
lable cog,  com  or  con  of  the  following  word,  or  an  omitted  of  the 
or  to — e.g.,  and-considerahle,  and-to-be,  and-of-the-best. 

As-to,  has-to  and  is- to  are  most  handily  and  legibly  indicated  by 
Zt,  first  or  third  position;  they  are  quickly  stricken  and  phrase 
very  facilely. 

In,  distinguished  from  on:  In  is  represented  by  in-hook  at  be- 
ginning of  any  phrase  to  which  it  is  applicable;  on  is  not  so  joined, 
except  that  before  K  or  (t  in  may  be  written  by  hook  with  points 
upward  and  on  by  hook  with  points  downward— allowing  on- 
account  to  be  distinguished  from  in-account.  Before  or  after  ticks 
or  circle  word-signs  not  joined  to  stems,  in  and  on  governing 
position,  they  may  be  freely  joined.  In  accommodates  itself  to 
the  position  of  any  stem  to  which  it  is  joined.  Medially  or  finally, 
for  the  word  in  use  the  en-hook  wherever  it  fits,  and,  in  such  a 
connection,  use  the  in-hook  for  on — e.g.,  be-in,  Bn — be-on,  Bn;  after 
a  form  which  will  not  take  en-hook,  in-hook  represents  in;  after 
such,  on  must  be  written  separately — e.g.,  it-is-in,  Tsn,  put-in,  PtH. 

The  ed-tick  I  use  for  the  past  tense  on  more  forms  than  it 
might  be  supposed  applicable  to,  from  what  is  said  of  it  in  the 
text-book.  I  prefer  it  to  disjoined  D  in  most  cases,  and  some- 
times it  takes  very  well  the  place  of  a  joined  D,  and  to  a  half- 
length  present-tense  gives  past-tense  without  change  of  form. 

113 


Marks  for  exclamation  and  interrogation  used  herein  are,  I 
tlTink,  peculiar  to  me,  distinct  and  easy;  the  same  is  so  of  the 
colon — a  double  period,  made  without  lifting  the  pen. 

The  following  words  and  phrases  may  be  noted: 

About: 

Phrase  it,  after  other  stems,  only  when  its  vowel-tick  plainly 
shows;  without  the  tick  it  is  mistakable  for  between. 

Accomplishment —  KPlSff : 

Nouns  formed  by  addition  of  merit  to  a  verb  may  be  written 
by  the  verb  form  only — context  indicating  the  noun — unless 
the  verb  form  is  also  used  as  a  noun;  e.g.,  'statement"  must  be 
sTtMnt,  because  state  is  also  a  noun,  but  "  arrangement "  is 
written  -RnJ. 

Acknowledge—  NIJ': 

This  verb  is  contracted  to  the  noun  form,  Icnowledge;  the 
noun  Adcnowledgment  must  therefore  have  Mnt  added. 

Acquaint-ance Knt^: 

This  contraction,  tho'  not  in  text-book,  is  good  for  both 
words. 

Add—  D^;  added—  Dd';  addition—  Dshn': 

These  do  not  need  initial  vowel  tick.  Write  condition  in  the 
third  place. 

Adapt—    -DPt': 

Distinguished  from  adopt  by  initial  tick,  which  is  omitted 
from  adopt;  same  distinction  used  with  derivatives. 

After—  Ft^: 

Safe  contraction,  quicker  and  easier  to  phrase  than  Ftr; 
there  is  suggestiveness  in  shorthand  contractions  which  are 
analogous  with  common  longhand  contractions. 

AU-about—  tick  -Bt: 

All  tick  and  initial  vowel  tick  make  good  angles  with  Bt. 

All-alone —  tick  Ln': 

Initial  vowel  tick  is  omitted  from  alone  to  give  it  good  angle 
with  all  tick. 

Ambitious —  tiBSHs^: 

In-hook  represents  m  with  preceding  vowel,  as  well  as  n, 
before  simple  B  or  P,  because  M  before  these  stems  makes  in- 
definite form. 

114 


Among-all—  NGP: 

All  after  a  stem  sipfii  is  written  much  with  el-hook;  the  tick 
for  all  is  not  used,  or  seldom,  finally.  Note,  ajso,  "  over-all," 
Vl^  from  which  initial  tick  is  omitted,  though  always  applied 
when  over  is  alone. 

An— 

Is  generally  better  written  by  the  light  dot  in  first  place,  but 
it  sometimes  seems  to  belong  to  the  other  word  and  may  be 
joined  to  it  with  in-hook  or  with  en-hook — e.g.,  "  has-an,"  "  an- 
earnest,"  "  gave-an." 

And-all-those-places — 

Shows  and-tick  hooked,  for  all,  as  tick  word-signs  often  are. 

Assistant—  SstNt^: 

Though  the  pen  crosses  the  stem  at  end  of  the  loop,  to  make 
following  stem,  that  stem  makes  angle  with  end  of  loop  and 
the  form  is  clear;   it  retains  unchanged  the  form  of  assist. 

Boarding-house —  BrdHs- : 

A  contracted  phrase,  barely  possible  of  misreading. 

Britannia —  Brt-N': 

Illustrates  value  of  medial-vowel-tick  to  make  apparent  a 
junction,  indefinite  without  it. 

Call-at-this—  KltTHs' : 

Halving  may  add  at  or  it,  medially  or  finally. 

Council —  KsL': 

This  is  a  contraction,  because  circle  on  under  side  of  K  is 
yet  merely  on  outside  of  angle  and  does  not  indicate  n;  dis- 
tinguished thus  from  counsel,  K\  and  consol.  &  consul,  sL^  in 
proximity  or  with  con-dot.     Cancel,  written  like  council. 

Come-into—  KMnT^: 

In  this  phrase  "  the  consonants  of  successive  words  are  repre- 
sented as  they  would  be  if  the  phrase  were  but  one  word."  (P. 
102  of  text-book.)  The  same  is  true  in  the  phrases,  "  Many- 
letters,"  MNltrs;  "ready  and  anxious,"  i?DnNGSHs;  "  rule-and- 
reason,"  RlnRsn;   "  tongue-and-pen,"  TNGnPn. 

End—  -Nd=: 

Special  form;   initial-vowel-tick  makes  word  unmistakable. 
Expect —  sPKt": 

Contraction;  saves  writing  of  K  and  brings  word  above  line; 

115 


care  must  be  taken  not  to  double  circle,  making  it  suspect.    And 
unexpected  must  be  wKsPKt-;  for  nsPKt-  is  read  inspected. 

Fences —  Fnss^: 

Plurals  and  3rd  pers.  sing.,  of  forms  ending  with  ns  on  curves 
in  the  singular  and  first  person,  as  fence,  may  be  shown  by 
turning  circle  for  final  s  on  the  back  of  the  circle  in  the  hook — 
outside  of  the  hook.  I  think  this  better  than  changing  the  form 
by  substituting  N  for  the  hook  so  as  to  be  able  to  form  the 
double  circle.  I  form  the  past  tense  by  striking  St  after  the 
hook  on  like  forms. 

First-memories—  First  of: 

First  may  be  phrased  with  its  usual  form,  as  when  alone,  or 
by  the  loop  adjunctive  to  a  stem. 

Greatest-part —  GrtsP= : 

Contracted  phrase;  loop  changed  to  circle,  t  omitted,  so  as 
to  make  facile  the  joining  of  the  following  word. 

Half-a-dozen—  7(FDs»^: 

The  word  a  may  be  omitted  from  within  a  phrase,  tho'  not 
written.  A-half-dozcn  would  be  written  with  a-tick  before 
7^FDsn, 

Her-interest-in-it —  R-NtrsNt": 

Initial-tick  on  interest  allows  of  joining  to  her;  loop  on  interest 
is  changed  to  a  circle  so  that  Nt  may  be  joined. 

Honorary-member —  nRRrn^: 

Second  R  is  made  heavy  to  show  ra;  this  to  indicate  the  word- 
sign  for  member,  M",  which  I  use,  tho'  not  in  text -book. 

Hospital—  SPtL^: 

Contraction — hay  being  omitted — it  is  good,  suggestive. 

In-about —  «Bt^: 

While  about  could  not  be  phrased  after  a  stem  unless  its  initial 
tick  could  be  formed,  it  here  governs  position  and  there  is  no 
danger  of  mistake  for  bettceen. 

In-a-court —  w-Krt": 

In  is  followed  by  tick  for  a,  because  in-the  would  be  Nt. 
In-an 

Is  distinguished  from  in-one  by  placing  in-an  in  position  of  in, 
but  letting  one  govern  position  of  in-one. 

116 


In-another: 

Inverted  in-hook  allows  the  forming  of  necessary  initial- 
vowel-tick  on  another;  same  is  done  in  writing  in-any. 

In-connection  &  In-consequence: 

Con  is  omitted  in  these  two  phrases,  analogously  to  its  allowed 
omission  in  some  long  words. 

Indebtedness—  ?(Dt:Ns: 

Contraction;    syllable  ed  omitted  and  Ns  disjoined.     Write 
indebted  nDt-. 

Insurance-offices —  wsFss^: 

I  use  in-hook  with  circle,  3rd,  for  insure  and  for  insurance: 
Insured,  »isRd;  Insurer,  «sRr  (begin  n  with  ujiward  direction 
and  you  make  circle  follow  it  and  r-hook  on  the  R  very  neatly) ; 
Insuring,  jjsNG.  Insurance  is  very  handy  in  phrase  with  all  the 
words  it  goes  with — e.g.,  fire-insurance,  insurance-company. 

Influences-of — •  nFssV : 

Of  is  phrased,  handily,  by  V,  where  ive-hook  is  not  applicable. 

Introduction —  NtrDs/^n^- 

I  omit  the  K  from  words  ending  with  diction  and  duction; 
merely  writing  Dshn. 

Movement —  Mnt*: 

Is  a  very  good  contraction  for  this  word,  the  full  form  of 
which  is  awkward. 

Kept-up—  Kpt-P^: 

Frequent  phrase;  medial  vowel-tick  helps  to  join  the  P's. 

Knew-if —  W  &  ive-hook: 

Ive-hook  may  be  affixed  for  either  if  or  of.     Not  necessary 
to  affix  diphthong  to  the  words  kneic  or  new. 

Medicine —  Mdsn-: 

Special-form;  is  halved  for  d,  tho'  a  vowel  occurs  between  d 
and  the  circle;  it  is  used  by  me,  because  brief  and  handy. 

Member —  M^: 

Word-sign;  very  good,  alone;  but  do  not  phrase  after  another 
stem,  lest  it  conflict  with  time,  which  is  M}  and  is  so  phrased. 

117 


Most-frequently : 

This  phrase-form  bears  an  apparent  analogy  to  the  prescribed 
method  of  writing  DsKr,  etc.;  yet  inasmuch  as  it  doesn't  really 
include  the  r  power,  the  striking  of  the  curved  stem  from  the 
termination  of  the  circle  is  really  quite  arbitrary;  but  I  use 
this  device  in  writing  this-morning,  iJiis-word,  etc. 

Mr.  and  Mrs,: 

Word  signs  which  are  frequently  joined  to  the  surnames  to 
which  they  belong;  Mrs.  is  written  by  merely  adding  circle  to 
the  word  sign  for  Mr. 

Northern —  Xrn': 

Word-sign;  also  write  Nr,  first  place,  for  north. 

Of-course-it-has-not-been : 

While  this  may  seem  excessive  phrasing,  it  is,  after  all,  a 
union  of  two  common  phrases — viz.,  of-course-it-has  and  not-been, 
which  ran  easily  together. 

One-side-or-the-other : 

One,  beginning  this  phrase,  governs  position,  as  it  does  gener- 
ally, except  in  what  may  be  termed  numeral  phrases. 

Only—  XP: 

I  like  this  form  rather  than  nLj  it  is  quicker  and  joins  better 
in  phrase. 

Organ —  Gn': 

Good  word-sign;  from  it,  write  organic,  GnK^;  organism,  GsM'; 
organist,  GnSt\ 

Partially—  FSHV: 

Special  form,  made  of  word- sign  for  part  &  8H\  added. 
Paid—  Pd-: 

Word-sign,  or  special  form,  like  special  words  on  pages  22  & 
23. 
Prevision : 

Written  in  position,  thus  distinguished  from  provision,  which 
is  given  position  of  its  first  syllable.  Second  stems  of  both 
words  must  be  surely  heavy,  to  prevent  mistake  for  profession 
and  profusion. 

Real-ly—  i2P: 

Special-form;   write  reality,  RW;   realism,  i?lsM';   realization, 
Rlssn^;  realize,  R\s^;   release,  RLs.^. 

118 


Secession —  Sssh': 

Put  in  third  place,  position  of  secede,  to  prevent  conflict  with 
cessation. 

Several —  sV-: 

Word-sign.    Write  sevcralhj  sYRl. 
Sincerely —  sXs/?P: 

Special-form;   consonants  all  there  but  rather  compacted. 
Special-claim —  sPKlM": 

Claim,  following  another  stem-form,  in  phrase,  should  be  writ- 
ten with  full  form,  to  prevent  conflict  with  call. 

Spelling-reform —  sPL7?F : 

Suggestive  special-form  or  contraction. 
Strength—  sTr-": 

^^'ord-sign;  but  sirrngthcn  must  be  written  in  full,  for  sTrn 
would  be  strain. 

Somewhat —  sMt-: 

Word-sign;    be  sure  to  make  it  half-length,  lest  it  be  mis- 
taken for  some. 
Time—  M': 

Word-sign;  but  is  used  for  the  noun  only;  the  adjective  must 
be  written  with  full  form,  or  it  is  mistakable  for  mij. 

Took-her—  TK/(R: 

The  aspirate  tick  prefixed  to  her  makes  a  facile  joining  to  K. 
Without-any: 

Initial  tick  on  any  indicated  by  running  back  a  little  on  the 
first   stem;    write   do-any  in   like   manner.     See   also  "  what-I- 
know." 
World-over—  A'ldV: 

Initial-tick  omitted  from  over,  to  join  this  common  phrase: 
tho'  over  must  always  have  the  tick  when  alone. 

Week-after-week —  WKftrK: 

After  shown  by  doubling  the  stem  with  the  ef-hook;  the 
second  word  week  is  contracted,  being  a  repeated  word,  and 
joins  better. 

Young-Women's  Christian-Association : 

Is  an  example  of  a  phonographic  phrase  such  as  w'ill  be  made 
by  one  who  has  frequent  use  for  it.  This  phrase  was  regularly 
used  by  Mrs.  Burnz  during  the  latter  years  of  her  life. 

Your-honorable-body —  iJXrBlD : 

Contracted  phrase  form;  phrase  much  used  in  reports  of 
meetings,  etc. 

119 


^  ^^        ■  '     L. ^  ^. m   ...^L^ 


;  muMmMJ.. ^ 1 ,  mAAMw ^ ^....  lomA 


cr^ 


r 


^_^ 
^ 


.'^, ^  Im,  r.^ ^...m         .-^  ' ^ ^._. 

^,  (.,  J,  ru  M .  ^MimAjZ  ^  l,"^  ^,  /  L  


120 


Copyright  IQ05  by  Channing  Burnz. 
NUMBER  WRITING  IN  FONIC  SHORTHAND. 

Although  the  arable  figures  catch  the  eye  quickly  and  may 
be  readily  added,  numbers  are  written  in  Fonic  Shorthand  by 
the  following  method  with  fewer  strokes  and  quite  readably. 
One  is  written  capsized  in-hook  on  ^jwe- phrased  hj  ih.e  in-?iook  ; 
2,  T3  ;  3,  Sr^;  4,  Fr2  ;  5,  Fyi— hook  is  omitted  when  phrased  after 
other  numbers  to  which  stem  joins  handily,  but  when  phrased 
after  T  it  is  indicated  by  fV;  6,  sK^  ;  7,  sVn^— after  decimals  hook 
is  omitted  ;  8,  "T^  ;  9,  Nni — hook  often  omitted  in  phrase  ;  10, 
Tn2  ;    11,  iVn2  ;  12,  Tf2  ;    13,  SrTn2  ;   14,  FrTn2  ;   15,  FTnS  ;  16, 
sTn3  ;      17,  sVTn2  ;      18,    'Tni  ;    19,  NTn^  ;     '10,  Tn-2  ;    higher 
decimals  have  the  ed-tick  added  to  their  digital  root  forms  or 
variations  thereof,  tho'  the  tick  is  omitted  when  the  decimal  has 
a  following  digit,  except  before  *T  when  it  is  needed  to  make  an 
angle  ;  do  not  join  40,  F-i,  after  another  word,  or  it  would  con- 
flict   with    50,    F-3,    which    is    so    joined  ;    hundred  is  written 
Hnd2,  except  when  phrased  after  Fv,  sVn,  Tn,  iVn  or  Tf,  when 
it  is  Nd  ;  thousand  is  written  THi,  million  M3.       Omit  a7id  from 
all  numeral  phrases.    Ordinals  of  one,  two,  three  are  first,  second, 
third;  those  ending  in  th  halve  the  last  stem  of  the  cardinal, except 
fifth,  FFt,  and  hundredth,  Hndirt,  or  NdTH  after  Fv,  sVn,  Tn, 
ZVn  or  Tf.    Fractione  are  written  as  spoken,  cardinal  and  ordinal, 
which  may  be  phrased   if  they  join  handily  ;    but  do  not  join 
integers  with  fractions.     Pluralize  numerals  with  the  circle  as 
usual,  except  that  decimals  have  it  joined  angularly  to  the  tick, 
or  else  to  the  hook  or  curved  stem  so  as  to  indicate  the  tick,  e.  g. 
ones,  firsts,  twos,    seconds,   threes,  thirds,  fours,  fourths,  fives, 
fifths,    sixes,    sixths,    sevens,    sevenths,    eights,   eighths,  nines, 
ninths,    tens,  tenths,    twenties,  twentieths,  twenty  ones,  twenty 
firsts,  twenty  twos,  twenty  seconds,  twenty  threes,  twenty  thirds, 
twenty  fours,  twenty  fourths,  twenty  fives,  twenty  fifths, thirties, 
thirtieths,  forties,  fortieths,  sixties,  sixtieths,  eighties,  eightieths. 
KEY  TO  EXAMPLES  OF  NUMBERS. 
One.  two,  three,  four,  five,  six,  seven,  eight,  nine,  ten,  eleven, 
twelve,  thirteen,  fourteen,  fifteen,  sixteen,  seventeen,  eighteen, 
nineteen,  twenty,  twenty  one,  twenty  two,  twenty  three,  twenty 
four,  twenty  five,  twenty  six,  twenty  seven,  twenty  eight,  twenty 
nine,  thirty,  thirty  one,    thirty  two,  thirty  three,  thirty  four, 
thirty  five,  thirty  six,  thirty  seven,  thirty  eight,  thirty  nine,  forty, 
forty  one,  forty  two,  forty  three,  forty  four,  forty  five,  forty  six, 
forty  seven,  forty  eight,  forty  nine,  fiftv,  fifty  one,  fifty  two,  fifty 
three,  fifty  four,  fifty  five,  fifty  six,  fifty  seven,  fifty  eight,  fifty 
nine,  sixty,  sixty  one,  sixty  two,  sixty  three,  sixty  four,  sixty  five, 
sixty  six,   sixty  seven,  sixty  eight,  sixty  nine,  seventy,  seventy 
one,  seventy  two,  seventy  three,  seventy  four,seventy  five,  seventy 

12] 


t ^  C    '  L_  '  L  '  L  ^  ^-^_, '  a-,  >  o_^ra_-, ;  a_A  J  £)__>?  '=^— I    "^ 

V  ;  V_^/  L,  h,  If  kf  ^  J  L,  J. —  >  r  '  7  '  ^'       ' ^...Z7, 

.1,,  ^,  L,  A^,  L,_^,  ^.l^,^,  I,  %  (^>',^,d,.^,. 


^  ^ 


A.« -r"      ,.p,J)at,)4.v.^..'Z='..,J).^^^^ 


122 


six,  seventy  seven,  seventy  eight,  seventy  nine,  eighty,  eighty 
one,  eighty  two,  eighty  tliree,  eighty  four,  eighty  five,  eighty 
six,  eighty  seven,  eighty  eight,  eighty  nine,  ninety,  ninety 
one,  ninety  two,  ninety  three,  ninety  four,  ninety  five,  ninety  six 
ninety  seven,  ninety  eight,  ninety  nine,  a  hundred  one  hundred 
one  liundred  and  one,  one  hundred  and  two,  one  hundred  and 
three,  one  hundred  and  four,  one  hundred  and  five,  one  hundred 
and  six,  one  hundred  and  seven,  one  hundred  and  eight,  one 
hundred  and  nine,  one  hundred  and  ten,  one  hundred  and  eleven, 
one  hundred  and  twelve,  one  hundred  and  thirteen,  one  hundred 
and  fourteen,  one  hundred  and  fifteen,  one  hundred  and  sixteen, 
one  hundred  and  seventeen,  one  hundred  and  eighteen,  one 
hundred  and  nineteen,  one  hundred  and  twenty,  one  hundred 
and  twenty  one,  one  hundred  and  twenty  two,  one  hundred  and 
twenty  three;  one  hundred  and  thirty,  one  hundred  and  forty, 
one  hundred  and  fifty,  one  hundred  and  sixty,  one  hundred  and 
seventy,  one  hundred  and  eighty,  one  hundred  and  ninety,  two 
hundred,  three  hundred,  four  hundred,  five  hundred,  six 
hundred,  seven  hundred,  eight  hundred,  nine  hundred,  ten 
hundred,  eleven  hundred,  twelve  hundred,  thirteen  hundred; 
a  thousand,  one  thousand,  a  thousand  and  one,  one  thousand  and 
one,  two  thousand,  three  thousand,  four  thousand,  five  thousand, 
Bix  thousand,  seven  thousand,  eight  thousand,  nine  thousand,  ten 
thousand,  eleven  thousand,  twelve  thousand,  thirteen  thousand, 
nineteen  thousand,  twenty  thousand,  forty  thousand,  fifty 
thousand,  eighty  thousand,  ninety  thousand,  one  hundred 
thousand,  seven  hundred  thousand.  Ordinals:  first,  second, 
third,  fourth,  fifth,  sixth,  seventh,  eighth,  ninth,  tenth,  eleventh, 
twelfth,  thirteenth,  eighteenth,  twentieth,  twenty  first,  twenty 
second,  twenty  third,  twenty  fourth,  twenty  fifth,  thirtieth, 
fortieth,  fiftieth,  sixtieth,  seventieth,  eightieth,  ninetieth,  a 
hundredth,  one  hundredth,  one  hundred  and  first,  one  hundred 
and  second,  one  hundred  and  third,  one  hundred  and  tenth. 
Fractions :  a  half,  one  half,  a  third,  one  third,  two  thirds,  a  fourth, 
one  fourth,  three  fourths,  a  quarter,  one  quarter,  three  quarters, 
one  fifth,  two  fifths,  three  fifths,  one  sixth,  five  sixths,  one  seventh 
two  sevenths,  three  sevenths,  four  sevenths,  five  sevenths,  six 
sevenths,  one  eighth,  three  eighths,  five  eighths,  one  ninth,  two 
ninths,  four  ninths,  one  tenth,  one  twentieth,  one  sixteenth,  three 
sixteenths,  a  thirty  second.  One  and  a  half,  one  and  one  half, 
two  and  a  third,  three  and  one  fourth,  three  and  three  fourths, 
three  and  a  quarter,  three  and  three  quarters.  Eighteenth 
October,  nineteen  hundred  and  four. 

123 


We  Publish  and  Sell 
FONIC-  SHORTHAND, 

Mrs.  Burnz'  great  SELF  -  INSTRUCTOR  in 
Phonography  that  is  Quick  as  Thought,  yet 
Plain  as  Print $1.00 

Four  Readers  in  Fonic-Shorthand,  being 

MEMORIAL  READER  (this  book) 75c 

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Also  Mrs.  Burnz'  Spelling-Reform  Works  and 

STEP  BY  STEP   PRIMER  and 

SERMON  ON  THE  MOUNT, 

in  Pronouncing  Print,  that  makes  reading  easy 

AND 

PURE  PHONICS  — her  crowning  work  — Showing 
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thought  right  and  faces  bright,  by  teaching  science  of 
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Any  of  above  •will  be  promptly  mailed  on  receipt  of  price  named. 

BURNZ   &  CO. 

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124 


JUL  id  1956 


4UM  ^  &  i984 
OCT  OlMO? 


rjNTVERSITY  of  CALIFORNIA 

AT 

LOS  ANGELES 

LIBRARY 


Z53       Burnz  - 
E93i     In  memoriam. 


UCLA-Young   Research   Liorary 

Z53   .B93i 
y 


L  009  502  932 


"a    001239  125    6 
. BAKER 


:53 

393i 


